


A Magical ASOUE Fanfic

by StoryRodeo_333



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: College, Evil Professors, F/M, M/M, Mysteries, Violence, after the books, idk man, just assume u could run into anything, magical girl transformations, takes place in the future, this is probably my best fanfic yet, this story gets wilder with every chapter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2018-08-10
Packaged: 2018-09-24 23:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 32,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9791399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryRodeo_333/pseuds/StoryRodeo_333
Summary: Follow the Baudelaire children through wonderful and wild adventures involving evil professors, mysteries on the college campus, new friends, and not to mention...magical girl transformations. Many people told me that a story involving magical girl transformations would not be good. I have proved them wrong. this is no doubt the best fanfic I've ever written, and I've written some masterpieces. so go read this. you wont regret it.





	1. Chapter 1

 

                Composing the first sentence is always the hardest part of writing an essay. No matter how well you know the subject on which you are writing, no matter how many guiding notes you’ve taken to prepare, and no matter how interested you are in the subject on which the essay is based, the first sentence will inevitably be the hardest thing to get through in the essay. Just like it took me an absorbent amount of time to compose the first sentence of this story, it is just the same with essays.

                Klaus knew this, of course, just like he knew that once he got through the first sentence, he’d fly through a rough draft in no time. But he also knew that merely knowing this would not be of any use in actually starting the essay. So as I sit here, flying through this paragraph now that I’ve already started, I could sympathize with Klaus, having been in his position countless times. Alas, my sympathy would do him no good, as I was not there with him in the university library. But someone else was.

                “Having trouble starting your essay?” someone asked as they took the seat across from Klaus, causing Klaus to startle in surprise. The someone in question had a smooth but timid voice. A voice that Klaus recognized, causing him to look up from his notes at the stranger. The stranger had dark hair, dark skin and pleasant facial features, all of which were features that Klaus recognized from one of his classes.

                “Aren’t you from one of my classes?” asked Klaus. And then, not out loud, he said, “Aren’t you the guy who stares at me a lot from across the room?”

                “Entomology,” he said, nodding. “I’m sorry if I startled you.”

                “It’s alright. I just wasn’t expecting there to be anyone else here in the library at this time of night,” said Klaus. It was rather late, but this was to be expected from Klaus. His sisters knew to expect him home late most days, or not to come home at all, since he often fell asleep right there in the library. Tonight, Klaus figured it would be one of those days, since he was already behind in this essay.

                “Neither was I. I was in the back, reading, and I lost track of time. My name is Basil, by the way,” Basil said, reaching out a hand. Klaus shook it and introduced himself as well. “My full name is Bartholomew Benedict-Basil Brochetveileska, but not many people can remember all of that, so I just go by Basil.”

                “It’s nice to meet you Basil,” said Klaus.

                “Likewise,” said Basil, standing up. “Well, I’ll leave you to your essay. Good luck.”

                “Thank you,” said Klaus. They waved goodbye to each other and Klaus watched him walk out of the library through the huge wooden doors with a book under his arm. _What an odd guy…_ Klaus thought as he went back to his paper, finally thinking of a way to start it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Violet finally saw the wire she had to cut and reroute. She reached her hand inside her invention and with her other hand, felt blindly around the table for her wire cutters. Klaus was telling her about a guy in his class or something from across the room. She was only half listening.

                “Losing track of time in the library doesn’t sound all that odd,” she said, catching that part about the guy. Where the heck were her wire cutters? “You do it almost every day.”

                “That’s not what makes him odd,” said Klaus, who wasn’t offended in the least that his sister was only half listening. He knew that she was busy concentrating on her invention. “Not that I mind all that much but it’s the fact that he always seems to be looking at me in class. But whenever I look at him, he looks away. I don’t understand. Does my hair look weird or something?”

                Violet let go of the wires and let her head fall as her shoulders shook with laughter. “I don’t think it’s your hair,” she said between giggles. Once she got control over herself, she smiled over at her brother. He truly seemed stumped by this conundrum. “Maybe you should just talk to him. Perhaps he just finds you interesting and wants to be friends with you.” She knew this wasn’t exactly the case, but she wanted to see how long it took her brother to figure it out.

                The two siblings fell into silence; Violet continued her work and Klaus continued where he left off in his book. It was a Friday and the two of them didn’t have classes that day. But Sunny, being in elementary school, did have classes.

                Violet, Klaus, and Sunny were very close with each other, which is a rare thing for children this far apart in age. They were respectively twenty-one, nineteen, and nine years old. And all three of them had troubled pasts, which haunted them to this day. But they managed. Ever since Violet came of age and inherited the fortune, they have been living together safely and (mostly) peacefully in their mansion that they built near the university. Of course, they still had nightmares about that horrible man who followed them for years, and every now and then, they would see or hear something that reminded them of their troubled childhood and they would have to take a moment to shudder and compose themselves. But they were safe and together, and that’s what was most important.

                “When does Sunny get home from school?” asked Klaus.

                Violet giggled and said, “The same time as every day.” Klaus stared at her, truly now knowing what time that would be. “Four. She’ll be here at four.”

                Klaus nodded and went back to his book. Violet smiled and went back to her invention.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunny giggled with her friends as they came back inside from recess. On her way past the garbage can, she spit out her old gum and reached into her pocket for another piece. Ever since she had gotten a full mouth of teeth – albeit very strong, very sharp teeth – she never went anywhere without gum. To keep her teeth occupied and her jaw as strong as ever, she was never caught without gum in her mouth. She always had a pack in her pocket.

                But today, she was shocked to see that something horrible had happened. Something so horrendous that it made her stop in her tracks and give a horrified gasp. For as she looked inside her pocket, the only thing looking back at her was an empty pack of gum.

                She fidgeted through the rest of her school day, unable to stop herself from chewing as if she had gum in her mouth. She knew at once that she had to stop on her way home to pick up more. As soon as the bell rang, she rushed out of the school, waving a quick goodbye to her friends. She planned on hitting up the Rite Aid on the way to her house, but she stopped in her tracks at the sight of something else, right where the Rite Aid was supposed to be. The drooping trees that normally shrouded the Rite Aid in a secluded alcove were now shrouding a small, mysterious drug store that was most definitely not Rite Aid.

                Sunny fidgeted with the straps of her backpack as she looked up and down the street, wondering if anyone else was seeing what she was seeing. Eventually, she made the decision to go inside. As she pushed the door open, a little bell rang above her. The mysterious drug store looked exactly like a regular drugstore on the inside. The carpet was patterned with pictures of little cartoon cats and there were tacky holiday decorations on the walls and ceiling. The shelves that filled the store were filled with normal drug store items, such as makeup, candy, snack foods, drugs, and there, over by the registers, was all they gum. All of Sunny’s favorite brands were lined up on display, ripe for the picking. Sunny looked over the different flavors and brands, trying to decide which one she wanted; Stride, orbit, 5, Hubba Bubba, Extra, Parmenides Flower…wait, that one didn’t belong. Sunny picked up a pack of the curious Parmenides Flower gum and looked it over. It was hibiscus flavored. Sunny knew that this whole situation was incredibly shady, but she was dying to try this gum.

                Just when she lifted her head to look around for an employee, who had previously been out of sight since Sunny came in, a bored looking teenage boy was standing behind the counter in a blue store uniform.

                “I’d like to buy this gum please,” said Sunny, catching the attention of the employee. He sleepily took the gum from her, rang it up, and handed it back in a large, unnecessary plastic shopping bag.

                “That’ll be five nineteen,” he said. Sunny cringed. That was an awful lot for a pack of gum.

                “Gee, that’s an awful lot for a pack of gum,” said Sunny. The boy shrugged and took the six dollars that Sunny handed him. He gave her the change and said, “Have a nice day.”

                “Thank you, you too,” said Sunny, placing the plastic bag on the counter and walking out with her gum. _What an odd store,_ Sunny thought as she walked the rest of the way home. She couldn’t wait to tell her siblings about this. By the time she got home and walked into the library, where she found Violet and Klaus, she had unwrapped the gum. Sunny greeted them and then popped a strip of gum in her mouth. The last thing she saw was the surprised faces of her siblings before her vision went pink.

                Sunny’s world melted around her and was replaced with a plethora of pink sparkles, lens flares, and flower pedals. Sunny looked down in shock as pink flower pedals fluttered around her legs, changing her pants into white stockings and an extremely frilly skirt. An unnecessary amount of pedals and glitter fluttered around the rest of her outfit, changing it into something truly horrid.

                This sequence went on for about five minutes to the sound of dramatic music. And finally, after five minutes of cringe worthy amounts of lace and ribbons, and the excessive use of glitter and lens flares, Sunny’s fancily clad feet touched the ground. She looked down in horror at her disgustingly frilly, lacy, flowery dress, and counted the inordinate amount of bows adorning the wretched outfit. When she looked at her sibling’s faces, they looked just as shocked as Sunny felt.

                “What…just happened?” asked Violet, who seemed to be the first one to get over the shock.

                Sunny looked down at the pack of gum in her hand and then realized something.

                “It was the gum!” she said. She told them all about her trip to the strange drug store, and about the expensive gum, and the bored employee.

                “Let me see it,” said Klaus, walking over to Sunny. She handed him the gum and he looked it over. “Parmenides Flower…something is ringing a bell…Oh! Parmenides.”

                “What’s Parmenides?” asked Violet, coming over to join them.

                “Not what, who.” said Klaus. “Parmenides was a philosopher. He was obsessed with the concept of change, or transformation. Which would explain the transformation you just went through. But if I’m remembering correctly, Parmenides believed that change wasn’t real. He believed that one couldn’t create something out of nothing, or in his words, ‘What is, is; what is not, is not’, which would be contradictory to what just happened. So really, if the gum truly is the cause of your transformation, the name is a misnomer.”

                “That still doesn’t explain _how_ it happened,” said Violet, already tying back her hair with her ribbon. “But he’s right, something can’t be created from nothing. Just like in the laws of physics, matter can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it transforms from one form to another. So there has to be something there already to trigger such a change.”

                “This gum isn’t even that good,” said Sunny. “I paid five dollars for this.”

                “That’s an awful lot for a pack of gum,” said Klaus.

                “Let me see it,” said Violet. “Perhaps there’s something in the ingredients that triggered this, although I really can’t think of anything that could have caused a transformation as powerful as this.”

                “What I want to know,” Sunny interrupted. “Is how to get out of this thing. It’s completely stuck to my body.” Sunny pulled at the fabric of the grotesque dress and sure enough, it was plastered to her skin. “And this gum is absolutely disgusting.” Sunny spit the gum out into her hand and there was a blinding flash of pink light. When the light faded, Sunny stood there, back in her normal clothes.

                “So it is in the gum…” Violet muttered. She took the packet of gum with her out of the library, presumably going to her workshop.


	3. Chapter 3

Violet had spent the entire weekend examining the gum, but she found nothing. Monday eventually came about and she had to halt her research and go to school. On Mondays, she had a literature class with the infamous Professor Carol Kreger. Carol was strict and seemed to hate the young generation, which made everyone wonder why she’s a professor.

                Violet always got to class fifteen minutes early, so she was always there before Carol. Which meant that Violet was one of the few people to hear Carol’s notorious words of entrance.

                “It’s only me!” Carol called out as she entered the room. There were only three students in the classroom, and they all knew that it was Carol without having to look up.

                Before long, the rest of the class started filing into the room, and soon, class had begun. Violet’s friend, Beth, took her usual seat next to Violet. Violet took thorough notes on the lecture. She could feel the square pack of gum in her pocket. She was planning on taking it to her Chemistry professor after this class to ask about it. Violet took it out of her pocket. The wrapping was colorful and flowery and the font in which the brand name was written was curly and fancy. As she looked the package over, she failed to notice that Carol had stopped talking.

                Beth nudged Violet and she looked up to find Carol glaring right at her.

                “Are you texting under your desk?” Carol asked, her sunny demeanor melting away. “You teens and your phones. It’s as if you can’t live without them. Bring your phone up to the front immediately.”

                “It’s not a phone, Professor, it’s just a pack of gum,” Violet said, holding the gum up for Carol to see.

                “Well, I suppose-“ Carol stopped midsentence when she saw the pack of gum. Her eyes were glued to the package as she said, “Bring that up here to me. Gum is forbidden in this classroom.”

                Violet raised an eyebrow and said, “I wasn’t going to chew it. I was just looking at it.”

                “I don’t care,” Carol said as she started her way over to Violet. “Gum is forbidden and you must give it to me.”

                Carol got to her and grabbed the gum. Violet held on tight, not wanting to lose the mysterious gum. Carol tugged and finally yanked it out of Violet’s hands. And as she made her way back to her desk to put the gum in the drawer, she said, “See me after class, Miss Baudelaire.”

                Violet was still reeling from the incredibly odd behavior by the time class was over. She walked up to Carol’s desk.

                “Where did you find this?” Carol asked, pulling the gum out of her desk.

                “It’s my sisters,” said Violet, deciding not to tell Carol anything about it. “I don’t know where she got it.”

                “You’re lying,” Carol said.

                The peculiar and slightly threatening conversation went on in the empty classroom. It seemed as though there were no witnesses to witness what happened next to poor Violet. Little did they know, someone _was_ watching, someone who was waiting for Violet outside the room, wondering what was taking her so long. And this person rushed to get help.

                Meanwhile, Klaus was in his entomology class, listening to Professor Vishnibhanupudi passionately lecture about Brazilian treehoppers. When the class ended, the students all filed out, except for Klaus who had a question for the professor.  

                “Professor Vishnibhanupudi, I have a question,” Klaus said. Most of the students weren’t able to pronounce Professor Vishnibhanupudi’s name, but Klaus made it a point to memorize all of his professor’s names, no matter how long and complicated they were. He figured that was the decent thing to do. Klaus went on to explain what happened to Sunny and the mysterious pack of gum. Professor Vishnibhanupudi nodded along with the story. When Klaus was finished, the professor looked around the classroom as if he were looking for eavesdroppers. When he was satisfied that they were alone, he spoke.

                “I know where you can find answers,” he said cryptically. He tore a scrap of paper away from his notebook on the podium and wrote something down, then handed it to Klaus. “You can find your answers in the library.”

                Klaus looked down at the paper in his hand. It read

_Eleanora Wonderbridge may help._

“Who is-” Klaus began, but Professor Vishnibhanupudi shook his head as if to say it was not safe to talk about it here. Professor Vishnibhanupudi began packing is binder with his notes and Klaus left, knowing he would not get any more information.

                When Klaus walked into the library, he took a moment to look around in wonder, as he did every time he walked in. He had encountered many different types of libraries in his life, but never one as big and magnificent as this one. The ceilings were high, glass domes, and the rows of bookshelves seemed to go on forever. It was quiet and the chairs around the study area were big and plush, perfect for curling up in with a good book.

                After his moment was over, Klaus got to work, trying to find out who Eleanora Wonderbridge was. Was she someone in the library who he was supposed to talk to? Klaus looked around at everyone in the library, everyone he could see that is, and counted too many girls. He couldn’t very well go up to every one of them and ask them what their names were. And even if he did happen to find Eleanora Wonderbridge, who was to say she would want to be bothered with silly questions about gum? He then thought that perhaps Eleanora Wonderbridge could be an author. Klaus spent an hour going through every section of the library, looking at every author under the “W” sections, but to no avail. Just as he was making his way to another section of the library to find more “W” names that weren’t “Wonderbridge”, he was not looking where he was going, so he ran right into someone who was rounding the corner. The person dropped the stack of books they had been carrying, and Klaus hurried to help pick them up.

                “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Klaus apologized. When he looked up at the person to hand them their books, he saw that it was Basil, the boy from his class who had introduced himself to Klaus just last week. “How do you do?”

                “I’m doing very well, thank you,” said Basil. “And you?”

                “I’m well, although I can’t seem to find this author anywhere…” Klaus trailed off as he looked at the paper in his hand.

                “May I see?” asked Basil. Klaus handed him the slip of paper and Basil read it over. “Eleanora Wonderbridge…I seem to recognize that name, but it can’t put my finger on it…Oh! I know! She was a character from a book I read once. She only appeared once in the entire book. The book was called The Misadventures of Tommy B., by Tommy Bethorlhide. Here, I’ll show you where it is.”

                Basil led the way and Klaus followed close behind.

                “You read this book recently?” Klaus pondered.

                “No, I read it when I was eight and my mother worked here at the university. I spent most of my childhood in this library,” said Basil, which only made Klaus even more confused. How could he possibly remember a name mentioned in a book from all those years ago? Unless of course he had a photographic memory, but that was extremely unlikely.

                “How do you remember a name mentioned in a book from all those years ago?” asked Klaus.

                “I have a photographic memory,” said Basil. “It’s useful more often than it’s not, but unfortunately, that means I remember every detail of the fire that destroyed my home and killed my parents as if it happened yesterday, when in fact, it happened when I was eleven.”

                Klaus could hardly believe what he was hearing. “The same thing happened to me and my sisters,” he said. “Our parents perished in the fire that destroyed our home.”

                Basil looked at Klaus suspiciously for a moment, looking as if he wanted to say something, but then he closed his mouth and continued walking. He took Klaus down the Biographical Fiction aisle and perused the books. He finally found it and set his stack of books down on the ground to take it off the shelf.

                “Here it is, _The Misadventures of Tommy B.,­_ ” Basil said. He flipped through the pages of the book until he found the one that mentioned Eleanora Wonderbridge. “There’s a handwritten note on this page!”

                Klaus leaned over to see it and sure enough, there was a note written in pencil in the margin of the page. Klaus read it out loud, “ _See page 667 in Daniel Jackel’s_ Wood, Furniture, and More _for more details.”_

“It’s leading us to another book,” said Basil. He closed this one and led the way to another part of the library. The two boys practically ran to the Wood and Furniture section of the library, which was all the way in the back corner of the cavernous room. As soon as Basil found the book, he opened it to page 667. There was a sentence on the page that was underlined in pencil, which they both read out loud together.

                “ _Then, what Hindesman did was create a secret door which could be accessed by pushing a specific book in the bookshelf back to hit the backboard of the bookcase, allowing the latch to be undone, and the bookcase to swing open like a door._ ” The passage went on to explain some of the other hidden secrets in Hindsman’s furniture, but the two boys were only concerned with reading the one sentence over and over again. Finally, they looked at each other and they both knew that they were wondering the same thing. _Was this a secret passage that they were about to open?_ Klaus took the book and slid it back into its place on the shelf. Nothing happened. Then he slid it a bit farther back, past the spines of the other books, and he heard something click. They heard another quiet _thunk_ in the wood, and then a door sized width of the bookcase separated itself from the rest of the bookcase and began to slowly swing open with a soft _click, click, click._ The secret door opened to reveal a dark staircase leading down. They could not tell how far down it went, because it descended into complete darkness. The darkness reminded Klaus of the time when he and his sisters had to climb down the elevator shaft when they were living in the apartment with Jerome and Esme.

                “Should we go?” Basil asked.

                “Yes,” Klaus said resolutely, and he led the way down the stairs. As the darkness enveloped them, Basil looked around in fear. Klaus however, was not afraid. He knew there were no enemies down there, so there was nothing to be fearful of.

                As they traveled deeper into the darkness, they came closer to finding answers. But I’m sorry to say that Klaus was wrong. He should have been afraid.


	4. Chapter 4

Sunny walked home thinking about the stuffed beef roast with blue cheese, mushrooms and garlic that she was going to make that night. She was almost positive that they had all the needed ingredients at home.

                Sunny had not thought of the mysterious gum-triggered transformation since that day. Of course, it had crossed her mind a few times, and she wondered about how strange it was, but she wasn’t actively trying to solve the mystery like her siblings were. She had more important things to worry about, like whether to garnish the beef with rosemary sprigs or peppermint leaves. She would leave the scientific mysteries to her siblings.

                When Sunny arrived home and walked into the kitchen, eager to start cooking, she heard a light shift coming from the library. Violet and Klaus were both still supposed to be at school, so Sunny was immediately on guard. She grabbed the heavy brass candelabra that was sitting on the breakfast table and quietly made her way to the library. She heard another creak and then a quiet _thump._ Sunny put her back to the wall and shuffled over to the corner to see into the library, her heavy brass candelabra at the ready. When she peaked around the corner, she saw that the Indian rug was moved, and coming out of the trap door underneath it, was a girl with black, curly hair that cascaded down her back. Sunny recognized the uniform she was wearing as the same one that her brother and sister wore to school. The mysterious girl climbed out of the secret passageway and then closed the trap door, pulling the rug back into place.

                “Who are you?” Sunny called out, stepping into view at last.

                The girl turned around and relief crossed her features when she saw Sunny.

                “Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” she said. “You must be Sunny.”

                “Who are you?” Sunny asked again.

                “My name is Beorhthilde Beatrice-Bethany Brochetveileska, but you can call me Beth. I’m a friend of Violet’s,” said Beth. “I apologize for having to come in this way, and I wish we could have met under more pleasant circumstances, but your sister is in danger.”

                So many questions sprang into Sunny’s mind at once that when she opened her mouth to ask them, the questions were all tripping over each other on their way out.

                “What are you…How did you know about…Are you part of…” Sunny struggled.

                “Yes, I am a volunteer, which is why I know about this secret passageway. No, you don’t have to be suspicious of me. The reason you don’t know me is because my brother and I are brand new members. And your sister was taken captive by one of our professors, Carol Kreger,” Beth explained. “And I need help rescuing her.”

                Sunny let the heavy brass candelabra fall to the ground with a loud _thud_ and then both girls sprang into action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                When Violet finally awoke, it took her several moments to open her eyes and look around. She was so groggy, she knew she would barely be able to move a muscle. It reminded her of the time she woke up from the anesthesia at the Heimlich Hospital.

                After what felt like an hour, Violet’s eyes were finally adjusted to the light. She looked around. The ceiling she was looking at was white and there was a ceiling fan off to her right which was spinning lazily. Off to her left was a closet with odd looking clothes hanging in it. Violet concentrated on her right hand, putting all of her energy in moving her index finger. It took quite a bit of time, but she soon found herself moving all five of her fingers very slightly. It felt like a victory. Soon, Violet was moving her left hand’s fingers, her toes and her head.

                _Alright, now my legs,_ she told herself. With a great amount of effort, she managed to twitch both her legs, and then she was able to bend her knee up and down. All of this movement really tired her out, so Violet took a moment to catch her breath and take a break. But then she remembered that she had woken up drugged in an unfamiliar place, and her adrenaline spiked once more. After a few more minutes, Violet was able to lift herself up on her elbows and swing her legs off the side of the cot she was on. From this position, she was able to get a better look at the room she was in. It looked like some sort of sewing workshop. In the corner were rolls of fabric, mannequins stood around the room, and on the desk sat a modest sewing machine. The rest of the desk was lousy with pins and needles, much like her feet, when they touched the ground, were lousy with pins and needles, as if she had been sitting on her feet for a very long time. Once the blood came back to her feet, she put more pressure on them by attempting to stand up.

                Violet dropped to the ground like a bag of heavy brass candelabras, hitting her elbows, knees and hips which was sure to be painful. She gasped and tried to rub her elbow, which hurt the worst, but she couldn’t get her arms to move that much. Her legs were jelly. She decided that her energy would be put to better use getting out of the room. Knowing that her legs would be of no use whatsoever, Violet began using her arms and the little strength in her legs to drag herself to the door.

                A fleeting thought found its way into Violet’s head and she had to laugh at herself. She thought of what a silly sight she would be to someone watching her crawl awkwardly across the cluttered floor of this sewing room. By the time she was finished giggling at her situation, she had reached the door. Her head was mostly clearing up and she could feel a little bit more strength coming to her arms and legs. She lifted her arm up and tried to reach the doorknob, but it was too high. No matter how much she reached, she just could not get a hold on it from the ground.

                Violet huffed out of frustration. She was losing energy again. Her captor could come back at any moment and she was wasting time laying around on the ground. Violet gathered all the strength she could muster and reached up and grabbed what she could reach: the dresser. She grunted with exertion as she lifted herself up onto her feet once again. Once she got her feet on the ground, she began straightening her legs, her knees shaking profusely. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face. She was up. She was standing. _Okay, perhaps I should try walking first before I plan my escape,_ she thought to herself. With the support of the dresser, Violet took a tentative step forward. Her knees quaked and sweat beaded her face and neck. _Okay, I’m walking. Not well, but I’m walking._

Just then, Violet saw something on the sewing desk. It was her ribbon. But it was all the way across the room. She sighed and then began her trek back across the room. Using the various chairs and sewing mannequins as support. She finally made it to the sewing desk, grabbed her ribbon and stuffed it in her pocket. Then she made her way to the door.

                With her hand on the doorknob, Violet put her ear to the wood and listened intently for the slightest peep in the house. She couldn’t hear anything so she slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door.

                Violet found herself looking into a dimly lit hallway that went on for what seemed like forever. Violet looked in the other direction and saw that the hallway ended with a bathroom, and past that, a kitchen. Violet decided that she would find more answers in the kitchen than down the dark, empty hallway. Using the wall for support, Violet made her way to the kitchen. The carpet soon turned into wood and her feet touched the ugly rug in front of the bathroom. Past the bathroom,, the kitchen was decorated to look like a modest, but fashionably modern country home. It provided a nice homey feeling. But Violet knew that this home didn’t belong to a kindly ranch owner, it belonged to a villainous professor who drugged and kidnapped her students.

                Violet trudged into the kitchen and looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and she didn’t see anything particularly helpful in escaping. In fact, Violet couldn’t find a single door to walk out of or window to climb out of. After digging through the drawers and cabinets and taking note of the items inside, Violet decided to head back down the hallway. The hallway was dark and the wallpaper was decorated with a dark flowery pattern. Single sconces lit the dim hall at obscure intervals, slightly illuminating the bare walls. Every step that Violet took, she could feel strength returning to her legs. Her mind was still moving slower than she would have liked, but at least she could walk. She continued along, the sewing room disappearing behind her and no end to the hallway in sight in front of her.

                But then she heard something that made her stop in her tracks. It was the faint sound of a door opening somewhere in the house. A front door. Along with this sound was another sound, the sound that sent shivers down Violet’s spine. It was a voice. A voice that cheerfully said, “It’s only me!”


	5. Chapter 5

While Violet was still trapped in Carol’s house, Klaus and Basil were having their own adventure. When they reached the bottom of the dark, mysterious staircase, they found themselves in a dark, mysterious hallway. It was cold and after feeling the wall in the dark, Klaus concluded that the tunnel was made of bricks.

                “Do you have a flashlight?” Basil asked, his voice echoing in the tunnel.

                “No, do you?” asked Klaus.

                “No.”                                       

                The two boys began inching their way forward in the darkness, their vision slowing adjusting. Soon they were able to see the faint outline of the bricks that made up the walls and arched ceiling. The small amount of light in the tunnel became a little bit brighter as they continued on their journey and the boys were able to see what was ahead of them. Up ahead, the tunnel split into four different tunnels, with a plaque on the wall in the middle of them. With echoing footsteps and bated breath, the two students approached the plaque.

                “‘Cholmondeley College Catacombs,” Basil read out loud. “There’s a small inscription below. ‘ _Tempus edax rerum_.’”

                “Latin?” Klaus asked, pulling out a dark blue commonplace book.

                “Yes. It means ‘time is the devourer of things’.” Basil said.

                “That certainly is morbid,” said Klaus.

                “Yes, it is. I had no idea there were catacombs under this school,” said Basil.

                “Well, they were certainly made to be kept secret,” Klaus said. “Now, which way should we go?”

                The two boys stared at the four split passageways, unable to decide which direction would be best. They both figured that it didn’t really matter which way they went, because they hadn’t a clue as to what was down any of them. I regret saying that, unfortunately, it did matter a great deal. Because one of the tunnels was much more sinister than the others.

                “Let’s go down this one,” Basil said, pointing at the one directly to the right of the plaque. I wish I could have been there to tell Klaus and Basil to turn back and go back to the library, or at the very least, choose a different tunnel. But I was not there, and soon, the boys were heading down the tunnel to the right of the plaque.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                Sunny, accompanied by Beth, drove through the city in the shiny black car that belonged to the siblings but was rarely used. Sunny was absolutely confident in her driving skills, but beside her in the passenger seat, Beth was worrying about every little thing.

                “I really think you should let me drive,” Beth said. “Are you sure you can see over the steering wheel? How are you reaching the pedals?”

                “Oh my gosh, it’s fine,” Sunny said, trying to contain her exasperation. She liked Beth, but man, was this girl a worry wart. Sunny tried to reassure her that she’s done this several times and nothing bad has ever happened. Sunny peered through the gap in the steering wheel, over the dashboard, and finally saw the building she was looking for. She parked the car along the curb perfectly between two other cars.

                “How did you do that?” Beth gawked. “I can hardly parallel park and I’ve been driving for years!”

                “Practice makes perfect,” said Sunny, winking at Beth as she got out of the car.

                “Where are we? Shouldn’t we be finding out where Violet was taken?” asked Beth.

                “Well, we don’t know where she is, but I know someone who might,” Sunny explained. “Her name is Regina Remora. She’s a singer here at this club.”

                “She’s an ally?” asked Beth.

                “Yes. She’s a volunteer,” said Sunny, holding the door open for Beth. The inside of the club was dimly lit. The carpet was red and the furniture was leather. It was classy and very swanky and it was a hub of information. People from all around, friends and foes, came to this club to discuss and share information. It was a neutral ground for everyone, and it was very often very seedy. But tonight seemed to be a better night. Jazz music was playing quietly and guests stood around chatting peacefully holding cocktails. Sunny pushed through the crowd, Beth struggling to keep up, until she reached a small stage at the back of the club. A small band was setting up on the stage.

                “Oh, I didn’t realize she’d be performing tonight,” said Sunny. “We’ll have to wait until after the performance.”

                Beth went on to worry over Violet being in trouble and Sunny tried her best to ignore her. Sunny was of course worried about her sister, but she knew Violet. She had faith that Violet could take care of herself.

                A hush fell over the crowd when the band walked out onto the stage. Sunny and Beth took seats and accepted cocktails.

                “You are far too young to be drinking,” said Beth, looking at the drink in Sunny’s hand.

                “It’s cranberry juice,” Sunny said, turning her attention to the stage where the performers were tuning their instruments. A beautiful woman walked out on stage wearing a long, glittering green dress. Her skin was very dark, her lips were very red, and her hair swooped around to frame her face in a style reminding Sunny of the women in pictures from the 1930’s. The woman stepped behind the microphone and said, “How is everyone this evening?” A light applause fluttered through the room. “My name is Regina…” Regina went on to talk about the song she was about to sing, and then she began singing. Her voice was beautiful, as Sunny already knew, but Beth looked entranced. She was gazing up at the stage with stars in her eyes. Sunny giggled and took a sip of her juice. Regina sang for about an hour, and then the band took a break.

                “Come on,” Sunny said, setting her drink down and getting up. Beth followed her, once again worrying over something.

                “We are horribly underdressed,” she was saying as she fiddled with her casual clothes, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles. “I feel like a sore thumb in this place.”

                “Don’t worry,” said Sunny. “Regina will flirt with you no matter what you’re wearing.”

                Beth looked at Sunny with a shocked expression as Sunny pushed through the crowd to the bar where Regina was sitting, sipping from a martini. Sunny hopped up onto the stool next to Regina, catching her attention. She looked over at Sunny and smiled.

                “Sunny! What are you doing here? How have you been?” Regina gushed.

                “I’ve been well, thank you!” said Sunny.

                “Are your siblings here?” Regina asked.

                “No, I’m here without them today,” said Sunny.

                “How’s your brother?” Regina said with a smirk. “Does he have a girlfriend yet? A boyfriend?”

"No, not yet," Sunny giggled. Regina was always asking about Klaus, and Sunny found it it hilarious when she flirted with him in person, because he became so flustered.

                “Hmm, well that is a problem I would love to fix,” Regina purred, leaning on her hand. Her eyes flitted past Sunny at Beth and her eyes widened. “Well, who do we have here? You must be one of the new volunteers.”

                “Y-yes. I’m Beth. I mean, my name is Beth. Um…It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Beth stuttered, her face turning a dark shade of red. She took Regina’s hand with her own shaking one to shake hands. But when Regina grabbed Beth’s hand, she flipped it and kissed the top of her hand, leaving a red lipstick stain, making Beth turn even redder. As Beth took her hand back, Regina winked at her and turned her attention back to Sunny.

                “So, what’s shakin’ girly?” Regina asked. “How’s school going?”

                “School is going well,” said Sunny. “Actually, we’re here because Violet has been kidnapped.”

                “Kidnapped?” Regina raised an eyebrow. “If I know Violet at all, I know she can get herself out of any trouble. And I know you can too, Sunny. What do you need my help for?”

                “She was kidnapped by one of her professors,” said Sunny.

                “Professor Carol Kreger,” said Beth.

                “Ahhh…yes I remember Carol. She is a fierce woman,” Regina said. “You want to know where she could have taken Violet, right?”

                “Right.”

                “To her house probably,” said Regina. “Here, I’ll write you the address.” Regina took the napkin from under her drink and pulled a pen out of her dress, writing down an address on it. She slid it across the bar and Sunny slipped it into her pocket.

                “Be careful, you two,” said Regina. “Carol still has quite a few tricks up her sleeve. I wanna see you intact at the dinner party next month. And Beth, I wanna see your pretty face again. Now get out of here you guys, go rescue your sister.”

                Sunny thanked Regina and left Beth to stumble over a goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6

Up until now, the last few sections of this story, since Violet was kidnapped, have been describing events that were happening at the same time as each other. Hopefully you have been following, because I did not explain that when it began, and I am much too lazy to go back and add in the explanation. It is too late. But now, the story has caught up with itself and the events taking place in this section are once again in sequential order.

                Violet was frozen in her tracks. The voice that uttered the dreaded words, “It’s only me!” still echoed in the hallway, swirling around Violet’s ears and making her shudder. She knew that Carol could come home at any moment, but she hadn’t realized how fearsome those words would sound to her when Carol did arrive. By the time Violet heard the front door closing again, she startled herself into action. She began running down the hallway, praying that Carol would not go down this hallway, for there was nowhere to hide. Violet heard Carol’s oddly loud footsteps coming closer to the sewing room far behind her, and Violet panicked. She looked around. There was a patch of relative darkness up ahead against the left wall and Violet bolted for it, pressing herself against the wall, praying that she would not be seen. Violet watched as Carol’s distant form entered the hallway and opened the sewing room door.

                “It’s only me!” Carol said again, but then she gasped, clutching her chest dramatically and stumbling backward. Then she yelled, “Chuck!”

                Carol walked away from the room, out of the hallway yelling the name “Chuck” loudly, until she was out of sight. Violet sighed a breath of relief and continued her trek down the hallway. Violet was walking so fast that she almost didn’t see the door disguised as more wallpaper, but she did see it and she backed up. She stuck her fingers in the small gap and pulled the door open. It made a horrid scraping sound that made Violet shudder and look at the end of the hallway for any sign of Carol. Carol didn’t come. Violet slipped through the door and closed it behind her. The darkness that Violet found herself in was a deeper darkness than she had ever encountered before. Darker than the elevator shaft at 667 Dark Avenue, darker than the journey from the submarine to the Gorgonian Grotto, darker than some her worst nightmares. But it was fine, because Violet pulled out her phone and turned on the screen to shine some light on her surroundings. (Who are we kidding guys, they have phones). Violet wondered why Carol didn’t think to take her phone, but she was glad that she didn’t. The small cabinet that Violet found herself in had wooden walls and a wooden floor, and when Violet turned around away from the door, she found a narrow passageway. So of course, she went into the passageway, having to turn sideways to fit through.

                While she was shuffling along, Violet looked at her phone. She had one missed call from Sunny, seventeen missed calls from Beth, twenty texts from Beth, and twelve voicemails from Beth. Good thing her phone was off this whole time, because Beth surely would have gotten Violet caught by blowing up her phone like this. She thought about calling her back, if only to ease her friend’s panicked state, but when she looked at the top of her screen, she saw that there was no service. Up ahead in the small hallway, Violet saw a sliver of light. When she approached it, she found that it was a vent. Peering through the vent, Violet saw Carol, in a living room, talking to a scraggly looking guy who sat behind a drum set with a beer in his hand. Carol was scolding him.

                “You had one job, Chuck,” Carol was saying. “Watch the girl. I told you she wouldn’t be asleep the whole time and that she’d try to escape. And guess what happened?”

                “I thought you had those other guys watching her…” said Chuck.

                “No! You were watching her! And she escaped!” Carol yelled. “My ‘other guys’ went and actually did their job. They’re on their way right now with the two boys.”

                “What two boys?” asked Chuck.

                “Klyde and Baxter,” Carol said. “No wait…Klaus and Basil.”

                Violet covered her mouth in an attempt to conceal the gasp that escaped her mouth. It couldn’t be. She can’t be talking about Violet’s brother, Klaus. It must be someone else. But Violet couldn’t kid herself; she has never met another Klaus before. I mean, let’s be honest, no one is named Klaus, except in Germany or something. It had to be her brother. Which meant that Violet couldn’t escape right away, which was her original plan. She had to stay and rescue her brother. Not that she thought he couldn’t handle it himself, but while she was here, she might as well rescue him. It was the decent thing to do. And the sisterly thing to do, obviously.

                “Chuck, honey, just go make dinner,” Carol said out in the living room. “I’ll go take care of the boys.”

                Carol then left and Chuck chugged the rest of his beer. Then he set it on the ground and began playing a horrible drum solo that was loud and non-rhythmic. Violet continued down the narrow passageway, looking for where Carol would possibly hold Klaus and Basil captive.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                The bag over Klaus’ head was ripped off and his eyes burned in the sudden brightness of his surroundings. Once he regained his bearings, he looked around and saw that had been taken to a small library and study. The carpet was soft and there were bookshelves lining the walls. A big wooden desk sat at the other end of the room. There was a radiator between some of the shelves, which was where Klaus was being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed to. His ribs still hurt from when he tried to take down half of the six men that had kidnapped him and Basil. The handcuffs pressed into his wrist, where he was sure there was sprain from when he knocked two of the men out. Those two men were still in the catacombs, where their companions had left them in order to take Klaus and Basil to this room. Across the room from Klaus, Basil was being shoved to the ground and the bag got torn off his head by one of the men. The man in question was the really gross one. He had greasy, shaggy, red hair and he wore a worn leather jacket. The man standing beside Klaus was a giant of a man, who also wore a leather jacket, but had no hair at all. The rest left the room, leaving the four of them alone.

                When Basil looked at up his captor, the greasy guy, a look of horror came across his face. The look that appeared on the greasy guy’s face was quite different. At first, it was shock, then it changed quickly to delight.

                “Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in,” said the greasy guy. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

                “I had hoped to never see you again either,” said Basil, his confident voice wavering slightly. The greasy guy burst into laughter, clutching his stomach and wiping a fake tear from his eye. Then, suddenly, he landed a swift kick to Basil’s stomach. Then he grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled him back up when Basil doubled over in pain.

                “Don’t get smart with me, you punk,” said the greasy guy. “Why are you talking normally now? What happened to your stutter?”

                Klaus halted in his struggle against the handcuffs and listened. What was this guy talking about? He watched Basil’s face change and his eyes darted over at Klaus, then back to the greasy guy. Klaus could practically see Basil’s confident façade falling away.

                The greasy guy grabbed Basil’s hair again and tilted his head to the side. He peered into Basil’s ear and then reached in, ripping a small device out of Basil’s ear. Basil winced and then struggled to get the device back. The greasy guy kneed Basil in the gut once more and let him fall to the ground this time.

                “Is this thing helping you talk?” asked the greasy guy. “What would happen if I just…” The greasy guy dropped the small device onto the floor and then stomped on it, shattering it into pieces. Klaus struggled against his restraints once more, to no avail, the metal cuffs clanking against the radiator.

                “You monster,” Klaus spat. “What do you want from us?”

                The greasy guy snapped his fingers and pointed at Klaus, eyeing the big guy standing beside the radiator. The big guy pulled a roll of duct tape from his pocket and tore a piece off, taping Klaus’ mouth shut. Klaus mumbled behind the tape, wishing to speak his mind against these despicable people, or at the very least, comfort his friend, who was still clutching his stomach and squeezing his eyes shut on the ground.

                “Get up _Basilton_ ,” the greasy guy said, spitting the name. “I wanna hear you talk.”

                He pulled Basil up by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

                “Say something,” the guy said, leaning in close to Basil, making him cringe and turn his head. When Basil refused to speak, the greasy guy snapped his fingers again at Klaus. The big guy walked away from Klaus over to the fireplace that was crackling peacefully in the corner of the room. Klaus hadn’t noticed it before, but sitting on the hearth was an iron fire poker, with its tip in the fire. When he saw that the fire poker was what the big guy was going to grab after putting oven mitts on his hands, Klaus began to panic. He tried to wrack his brain, thinking of ways to get out of the cuffs and get out of there. But Klaus couldn’t remember reading any books about escaping handcuffs, and Violet was not here to offer her knowledge on lock picking, so he could do nothing but watch with wide eyes as the big guy grabbed the iron fire poker and began walking back to him. The man got close with the iron and Klaus could feel the heat from where he was. After another futile attempt at escape, the large man grabbed Klaus by the collar and attempted to hold him still. The fire poker was very close to Klaus’ face now.

                “P-p-p-p-please, d-d-d-don’t h-hurt him,” Basil stammered, his voice shaking. The greasy guy looked at Basil and smiled.


	7. Chapter 7

Sunny and Beth eventually found Carol’s house after much searching. The road on which she lived was long and confusing and Carol’s driveway was partially hidden in the woods. But they made it nonetheless. Beth and Sunny snuck around to the back of the house, looking for a way in. There were very few windows and even less doors. Finally, they stopped wandering and stood next to a vent at the back of the house. The vent was just the right size to climb through, Sunny thought.

                Beth was worrying again and Sunny tried to calm her down.

                “I’m going to call her again,” said Beth. Sunny rolled her eyes and looked around the surrounding area. The woods surrounding the property were thick and dark, perfect for escaping into, if need be. Beside her, Beth had her phone up to her ear. That’s when both girls froze, listening as intently as they could. Within the vent by which they were standing, there came a faint ringtone that they both recognized. It was Violet’s ringtone. The ringtone got louder and soon, they saw Violets face behind the vent.

                “Violet!” Beth shrieked. Both sisters shushed their friend, and Beth covered her mouth sheepishly. Then she said quieter, “Violet, are you alright?”

                “Yes, I’m fine,” said Violet. “Sunny, how did you guys find me here?”    

                “We talked to Regina,” said Sunny. “She told us where Carol’s house is.”

                “Have you seen Klaus?” Violet asked.

                “No, he’s at school, isn’t he?” Sunny asked.

                “I think Carol captured him and his friend, Basil,” said Violet.

                “Basil?” asked Beth. “That’s my brother. He told me all about Klaus in his class, but I had no idea they were hanging out.”

                “Me neither,” said Violet. “I had no idea Basil was your brother.”

                “Well, we should go find them and rescue them,” said Sunny, who was not in the mood for small talk. “This is no time for small talk. We need to find them.”

                “Sunny’s right. Let’s go. Help me take this vent off and you guys can climb in,” said Violet, already trying to pry the vent off of the wall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                The greasy guy had Basil pinned to the wall and he was threatening him with the white hot fire poker that was centimeters from Klaus’ face.

                “You like him don’t you?” the greasy guy growled. He forced Basil to look at Klaus across the room and they locked eyes. A tear rolled down Basil’s face. “You do! Haha! I knew it! You were always so helpless around pretty guys like him. Always falling for the straight ones. What a shame. Heh, heheheh, it makes me so happy to see that you haven’t changed a bit!”

                Basil tore his eyes away from Klaus and struggled against the greasy guy’s hold on him. Klaus stopped struggling and thought about what he just heard. _What was that guy talking about? He isn’t referring to me, right? Basil doesn’t…_ But after a second thought, Klaus realized that it made sense. Basil’s behavior around him could not be explained easily other than that. The heat of the fire poker shook him out of his thoughts, and he gasped, trying to get away from the scalding metal. Just then, one of the bookcases fell to the ground, crushing the big guy with it. The fire poker flew from his hands and into the air. Klaus, Basil, and the greasy guy all watched with horror, waiting to see where the poker would land. The greasy guy turned from Basil and let out a scream as the fire poker flew right toward him…and stabbed him right through the chest. The white hot metal caught the guy’s shirt on fire briefly, but the blood pouring out of his would promptly put it out. The man flailed his arms and ran blindly around the room, knocking papers and books off of the shelves, before he finally fell to his knees. Then he proceeded to die dramatically for about three more minutes. When he finally fell to the ground and took his final breath, Basil and Klaus looked at the wall where the bookcase fell. Instead of there being a wall behind the bookshelf, there was a large hole, where Violet, Sunny, and Beth were standing, watching the scene in horror.

                “Are you guys okay?” Violet asked, stepping into the room. She went right to Klaus, tearing the tape off his mouth and getting to work picking the lock on the handcuffs.

                “Yes, we’re fine,” said Klaus, trying to catch Basil’s eye across the room.

                “Oh man, what a lucky turn of events,” Sunny said, standing over the greasy guy’s body with her hands on her hips.

                “Basil!” Beth ran across the room to her brother and began fussing over him. “Are you alright? What happened?”

                Instead of speaking, Basil lifted his hands and began signing.

                “ _We’re fine,”_ Basil signed. It took Klaus a moment to translate the sign language in his head. He had learned it over the summer a few years ago and he hasn’t used it since. “ _My easy speech broke.”_

                “Oh, Basil, you have a backup one at home, right?” Beth said, signing along with her speech. Basil nodded. He was still avoiding Klaus, who was still trying to catch his eye.

                “Alright, now let’s get out of here,” said Violet. The five of them walked out of the door and found a conveniently open window out in the hall, which they all climbed out of. As they were walking across the huge lawn back to the black car, which Klaus recognized as their car that they hardly ever use, Klaus looked over at Basil, who was still avoiding his gaze and looking incredibly despondent. Klaus thought about the cruel words that the greasy guy used to torment Basil, and, thinking fast, Klaus approached Basil and did something he would not normally do in front of his sisters so nonchalantly. He grabbed Basil’s hand and pulled him close, closing the distance by pressing their lips together. The kiss was brief and when they pulled apart, the girls were all staring at them with varying degrees of surprise. Beth looked thrilled, Violet looked mildly surprised, Sunny smirked a knowing smirk and the black car in the distance gleamed in the sunlight in approval. Regina, wherever she was, was probably disappointed, but proud nonetheless, and someone else, somewhere, was giving a thumbs up. A man in a shabby apartment off in the city nodded in admiration and a woman bussing tables in the restaurant below the apartments smiled in appreciation.

                So anyway, the five friends kept walking to the car and then they made their seamless escape from Carol’s clutches.

                And everyone lived happily ever after.

 

                ……or did they?


	8. Chapter 8

It’s been a month since that fateful day at Carol’s house. Violet was just about to leave her room and join her siblings downstairs, but she looked at the object sitting on her dresser. It was the ribbon that she took from Carol’s sewing room, thinking it was her own. She did not wish to return it, nor could she return it, since she dropped Carol’s class at school. But Violet hasn’t had occasion to use it. It’s been sitting there on her dresser since the day they escaped the professor’s house.

                But now that Violet was looking at it, she realized that it was a nice ribbon, and it matched the dress she was wearing that evening a bit better than her own ribbon. So she grabbed it and slipped it into her evening gown on her way out.

                Downstairs, Violet found Klaus in the foyer, fiddling with his bowtie.

                “It looks fine,” Violet said. “You look great.”

                “Thank you,” Klaus said, still fiddling with his bowtie. He looked up at Violet and said, “You look great too.”

                “Thank you,” said Violet. The dress that Violet was wearing that evening was a slim-fitted, floor length, lilac gown that had been sitting in her closet for years. She got it as a gift when she turned eighteen, and it was only now that she was able to fit in it and pull it off.

                “Are you excited to see your boyfriend?” Klaus asked, finally letting his bowtie be.

                “Of course,” said Violet. “I haven’t seen him in nearly three months. Are you excited to see _your_ boyfriend?”

                “Of course,” Klaus said with a smile. “Sunny’s still in the kitchen. I’m looking forward to seeing what she made for tonight.”

                “Me too,” Violet said. “She made quite a big deal of keeping the menu a secret.”

                The doorbell rang just then, interrupting the conversation. Violet opened the door to reveal a group of four people, three of whom looked almost identical to each other. The three nearly identical people at the door, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, were the Quagmire triplets. The fourth person was none other than Beatrice Baudelaire, who was only a few years younger than Sunny. She had been working in the city at the V.F.D. headquarters with the Quagmires on an important assignment for quite some time, and it was clear that she had been waiting in great anticipation to see her adopted siblings once more. Beatrice ran through the front door and jumped into Violet’s arms. The two girls embraced and then Beatrice greeted Klaus in the same manner. Then, Violet and Klaus turned their attention to their other guests, greeting them in much the same way. Quigley stepped through the reunion and approached Violet, planting a long kiss on her lips.

                The next guests to arrive were Beth and Basil. Basil was greeted with a kiss from Klaus. Klaus, upon glancing at the crowd of guests who had gone silent, burst into laughter when seeing the surprised faces of the triplets. He knew to expect questions from all of them, especially Isadora, whom Klaus had dated briefly a few years ago.

                The next guest to arrive was Regina Remora, who continued her flirtatious ministrations on Beth. Beth seemed flustered, but not in the least willing for it to stop. After Regina, several other friends and volunteers showed up.

                The guests all gathered in the dining room and engaged in conversation.

                “I heard that Drexel was coming tonight,” said Duncan. “We’ll finally get to meet him.”

                Klaus cringed and said, “I’m sorry to say this, but Drexel informed me just last night that he won’t be able to make it. He had an unexpected mission or something. I know you were all looking forward to meeting him.”

                Klaus was one of the few volunteers who had the opportunity of meeting Drexel. Drexel was an elusive member of V.F.D. who was rumored to be really, really, really cool. Tales of his accomplishments and adventures were the stuff of legend among the volunteer community, even though most of the stories were too farfetched to be true. His appearance fluctuated according to who you spoke to, but one thing was certain: he never, ever took off his super cool shades.

                Klaus had only met Drexel once and honestly, he didn’t think the guy was all that. He was also fairly certain that “Drexel” was not his real name.

                The conversation continued away from Drexel and onto better topics, such as metaphysics. Violet, being a big fan of metaphysics, found the topic absolutely fascinating. But there was something else that Violet found even more fascinating. It was the fact that Regina brought up the topic.

                Long ago, when Regina and Violet first became friends, it became apparent that Violet would not get far with Regina in a conversation about metaphysics. Regina hated the subject. So instead of arguing about the importance of metaphysics, or the unimportance of it if you were Regina, the two girls developed a secret code. Knowing that Regina would never bring up the topic of metaphysics in conversation willingly, Violet knew to keep an ear or eye out for a secret message from her if she ever did bring up the topic. And Regina was a great actress, so she made herself seem completely enthused.

                So as Regina chatted on about quarks, Violet knew to expect a message from her friend during dinner.                

                Speaking of dinner, right at that moment, the doors of the dining room opened and Sunny walked in, followed by two butlers who were wheeling in serving carts. Sunny stood at the head of the table beside Violet and introduced each dish as it was set down by the butlers. It quickly became apparent to the guests and the elder Baudelaires that Sunny had prepared a huge, traditional Salvadoran dinner. The butlers set out platters of papusas, yuca frita, tamales, sopa de pata, salpicón, carne asada, plátanos fritos, pollo encebollado, empanadas, and much more. All of it looked mouthwateringly delicious and the aromas that filled the room were heavenly. As soon as Sunny took her seat between her siblings and announced, “Bon appetite!” the guests served themselves and passed around the dishes, hoping to try everything.

                Regina made eye contact with Violet beside her and Violet knew that the covered bowl of empanadas that Regina was passing to her held the message Violet was meant to receive. Violet took the bowl from Regina and slowly but inconspicuously removed the lid. Inside the bowl, one of the empanadas looked especially suspicious, with a clean cut along the seam of the small pie. Violet served herself that one, and then passed the dish along. She took her time getting to the empanada, and when she did get to it, she carefully cut into the middle of it. As she suspected, there was a small note inside, which Violet slipped from the empanada and held in her hand under the table. As casually as she could manage, Violet peeked at the note in her hand. It said “ _One of the guests is not who they say they are.”_

                Violet looked up at the table and continued to make casual conversation with her boyfriend, who so far didn’t suspect a thing. As she discussed current events with Quigley, she took several peeks at the guests all around the dinner table. Most of them were friends, some of them she recognized from various V.F.D meetings, but there was one guest that Violet didn’t recognize at all. The guest was an older woman who wore a purple bedazzled baseball cap that said “Diva” on it, written in jewels, over her long grey hair. She wore what looked like a homemade belly dance choli over a revealing belly dance coin bra. Violet did not remember Klaus inviting such a woman and she could not imagine how this woman managed to sneak in without anyone noticing. And on top of all of that, Violet struggled to figure out why, despite her never seeing this woman in her life, she found the woman so oddly familiar.

                Two seats down from Violet, Klaus was having his own conversation with Isadora. He noticed his older sister receiving a secret message in an empanada, and now she was trying to secretly look at all the guests. Klaus did not want to draw any attention to Violet by asking about the note, so he turned his attention to his friend, who insisted upon making horribly awkward conversation with him.

                “Klaus, remember when we dated?” Isadora asked, giggling a bit. “Who knew you would turn out to be gay.”

                Klaus smirked and rolled his eyes, faking exasperation. “I’m not gay,” he said. “I still like girls. I just happen to be dating a guy.”

                “Okay, whatever you say,” Isadora joked. Isadora knew as well as anyone that a character in a story is never allowed to use the word “bisexual”, so she continued to make lighthearted gay jokes with her bisexual friend.

                Dinner went on in peace and then dessert came out. The butlers cleared the dinner plates and set the table with platters of arroz con leche, Maria Luisa, pastelitos, and flan de leche, all of which looked divine. Halfway through dessert, Violet got up from the table.

                “I apologize for this, but I must go make sure the parlor is ready,” she said. “Please, everyone stay and finish. Take your time, I’ll be back.”

                She motioned for Klaus and Regina to follow her. Klaus and Regina followed Violet to the parlor where they closed the door and faced her.

                “There’s someone at that table who is in disguise. I know which guest it is, but I have no clue what her true identity could be,” said Violet. “But I suspect that she’s here on sinister business.”

                “Of course she is,” said Regina. “Didn’t you see her Diva hat? Only villains would wear something like that.”

                “I think I saw the woman you’re talking about,” said Klaus. “I definitely didn’t invite her. She must have either snuck in somehow, or came with someone. And if she came with someone, then there is another person here with a sinister purpose. Someone who I _did_ invite.”

                Violet sighed and pulled her ribbon from her dress. She tied up her hair, ready to think of a plan to figure out the intentions of these sinister dinner guests, but as soon as she tied the knot in the ribbon, a blinding light filled the room. Violet’s vision dissolved away and was replaced with a world of purple bubbles and fluttering ribbons. Dramatic music filled the air as Violet’s feet were lifted from the ground. As she floated in midair, purple flower pedals and ribbons flitted around her legs, up her torso, and over her head. Her hair flowed longer than she’s ever seen it from the ribbon and her dress transformed into a spectacularly superfluous belly dance outfit. Her breasts were covered with a beaded and coined bra with a ridiculous amount of tassels and gems, while around her waist there was an elaborately beaded belt. From the belt, layers of purple silk flowed down around her legs to her feet, which were being decorated with gold jewelry. Gold chains fell around Violet’s neck and a gold tiara adorned with amethysts set itself upon her head. Gold cuffs and bangles slipped over her hands and laid on her wrists.

                This entire process went on for about four minutes, and then it finally ended with a flourish of ribbons and an explosion of flower pedals. When Violet’s gold adorned feet touched the ground, the parlor came back into view, as did the shocked faces of her brother and her friend.

                Klaus stared openmouthed and Regina covered her mouth with a squeal and said, “Violet! You’re a Magical Girl!”

                Violet looked down at herself. She would never willingly wear anything as revealing as this, but the outfit was admittedly much better than Sunny’s.

                “What was it?” asked Klaus. He was referring to the object that triggered the transformation, just like the object that triggered Sunny’s transformation was the gum.

                “The ribbon,” Violet said. “This is the ribbon that I took from Carol’s sewing room, thinking it was my ribbon.”

                “Violet, there’s something I need to tell you,” Regina said, a smile creeping up her face. But before Regina could continue, she looked past Violet at the parlor doors.

                “It’s only me…” a low voice purred from the doorway. Violet whirled around and saw the woman with the Diva hat standing in the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have decided to make this fanfiction a musical. It is possible that a song and dance sequence may appear in later chapters. (not original music) (I cannot write music)


	9. Chapter 9

Violet narrowed her eyes and growled, “Carol.”

                Regina and Klaus gasped.

                “Very astute Violet Baudelaire,” Carol said, stepping into the room. “I thought I’d be able to take back what is mine without even raising a single eyebrow. But I was wrong. Now that you’ve discovered my true identity and you have used the ribbon, I have only one option. We must fight.”

                “I cannot fight you right now,” said Violet. “I am hosting a dinner party at the moment. It would be poor mannered of me if I engaged in a battle while my guests are left alone in the dining room.”

                “You’re right,” Carol said. “Perhaps our battle can wait. Once the guests leave, we must battle.”

                “What exactly are you guys fighting over?” Klaus asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

                “Your sister took something of mine,” said Carol. “The ribbon in her hair was originally used to tie back my coin bra. Now that she has taken it from me, my coin bra is less powerful. I had to sew on regular bra clasps that are non-magical. I need the ribbon back. I also need that pack of gum back.”

                “That was never yours,” said Violet. “My sister bought that gum with her own money. A villain such as yourself should not own things as powerful as this ribbon and the gum. These objects need to be in the right hands. Right now, we need to go back to the dinner party and pretend like nothing happened. We’ll settle this when the guests leave.”

                “Fair enough,” said Carol. “I look forward to our meeting.”

                Violet pulled the ribbon out of her hair and her superfluent belly dance outfit dissolved away to reveal her original evening gown. She stuffed the ribbon down the front of her gown, thinking that no one with any kind of manners would get to it there.

                “Klaus, invite the guests to the parlor,” Violet said without breaking eye contact with Carol. Klaus hurried out of the room. Violet kept an eye on Carol until the parlor doors opened once more and guests began strolling in. Violet’s attitude immediately reverted back to the friendly and welcoming host. She took a seat on one of the couches next to Quigley and chatted with her guests. Champagne, tea, and coffee was served, along with biscuits and cookies. Violet kept glancing at Carol to make sure she didn’t do anything.

                One of the guests, a volunteer who just recently graduated from the V.F.D. academy by the name of Hallie, announced, “Regina is going to perform her new song!”

                The entire room focused its attention on Regina who was feigning bashfulness.

                “You wrote a new song?” Violet asked.

                “Yes, but it isn’t even that good,” Regina said. “You surely don’t want to hear it right now.”

                “Of course we do!” said Violet.

                “Oh, please you guys,” Regina waved her hand at her friends who began urging her to sing her song. Though she was acting shy and pretending to not want to sing her song, she handed Klaus her phone, which had the music on it for her to sing. “You’re making me blush. Oh this is so unexpected.”

                Klaus plugged Regina’s phone into the speakers and a smooth and riveting tango beat filled the room. Regina stood up, still feigning bashfulness, then began to sing when the music hit her queue. The song was in Spanish, and although only about half the room spoke Spanish, everyone could tell that the song was incredibly sexy and flirtatious. The bridge arrived in the song and Regina explained that this was when she was going to tango with someone on stage. She urged Klaus to stand up and tango with her, since they used to be dance partners while they were both in the academy.

                “We used to be dance partners,” Klaus explained to Basil, who was sipping tea beside him. “Do you mind?”

                “Not at all,” Basil said, clearly eager to see how well his boyfriend could tango.

                Klaus stood and approached Regina, pulling her into the tight hold. They waited for the beat to arrive and then they began.

                “I might be a bit rusty,” Klaus said quietly into her ear.

                “Oh please, you’re wonderful at this,” Regina scolded, also quietly, so no one else could hear their conversation. “You may be rusty, but you’re still a better tango partner than even some of the professionals that I hire for shows.”

                “Okay, that may be a stretch,” said Klaus.

                “It’s not,” said Regina. “Hey, remember when we dated for a year at the academy?”

                “Yeah, I remember,” he said.

                “Who knew you were gay all along,” Regina giggled.

                Klaus sighed in real exasperation this time and rolled his eyes. He led her into her turn and kick and then dipped her low. “You know I’m not gay. Why does everyone keep saying that?”

                “I know, honey, I’m just teasing,” said Regina. “You two are adorable together. I happy for you.”

                “Thank you.”

                “And if he doesn’t treat you right, he’s gonna have me to deal with,” Regina said.

                “Please don’t threaten my boyfriend tonight,” Klaus said.

                “I do what I want, hon,” she said.

                The bridge in the music was coming to a close, so Klaus lifted Regina onto his hip and spun her around with a flourish, then left the floor as she started singing again. Klaus sat back down and had to cover his mouth to hide his snort of laughter at seeing Basil’s face. Basil looked impressed, slightly jealous, enraptured, and entirely captivated all at once. Not to mention his face was quite red and he was clearly trying very hard to school himself.

                “Are you alright?” Klaus asked.

                “That was good,” Basil said, his voice cracking on the word “good”. He cleared his throat and repeated, “Good.”

                Klaus chuckled and said, “Thank you,” taking Basil’s hand. Regina’s song ended and the room applauded.

                “Thank you, thank you,” Regina took a bow and then sat back down. Most of the guests in the room discussed Regina’s performance, but Violet, Klaus and Sunny held a quiet conversation of their own.

                “Carol is here,” said Violet, catching Sunny up on the events that went down in the parlor before the guests came in. “She tried to fight me, but I told I couldn’t fight until after the dinner party was over. Any minute now, guests will start leaving and I’ll have to battle Carol.”

                “And Violet had a Magical Girl transformation, as Regina put it,” said Klaus. “Just like what happened to you with the gum.”

                “Which I still have, from when we were at Carol’s house,” said Sunny, pulling the pack of gum out of her pocket.

                “I have a feeling that Carol might have another magical item on her. She mentioned something about a coin bra,” Violet said.

                “That’s right, but she also let slip that the coin bra is less powerful now without the ribbon,” Klaus said. “She said that she had to use regular bra clasps.”

                “That’s right,” said Violet. “So I think I stand a chance. Although, I have no idea what these magical items do other than transform one’s outfit.”

                “They actually do quite a bit,” Sunny said. “A few days ago, I was in my room, and I decided to try the gum again. You two were at school, so I went down to the basement training room and tried some things out. I discovered that I can fly, I’m super strong, and I can summon a huge rocket cannon that was surprisingly light to carry.”

                “That’s why it looked like there was an explosion down there,” Klaus said.

                “Yeah, also, sorry I never cleaned any of that up,” said Sunny. “The task was too daunting for me to begin.”

                “That’s fair,” Violet said. “We can all clean it up tomorrow. In the meantime, I wonder if this ribbon holds any powers like that. If so, I’ll be able to beat Carol easily. It seemed as though this ribbon was the primary source of power for the coin bra.”

                “Yeah, that’s what it sounded like to me too,” Klaus said. “Uh-oh, look. Some of the guests are already leaving. It’s getting to be that time.”

                Violet looked over at the guests and noticed some of them standing up and making goodbyes.

                “I should walk them out,” Violet said. “You two, keep an eye on Carol. The Quagmires are staying over tonight, and so is Beatrice. Get them caught up on the situation.”

                “Roger,” Klaus and Sunny said. Violet left her siblings and began walking guests out. Eventually, the only ones left were the Quagmires, Beatrice, and Carol. Violet and Carol agreed to have the battle in the backyard. When Violet stepped out of the house, her siblings, the triplets, and Regina were already out there. Carol stood in the yard, waiting patiently. Violet took a deep breath and walked out onto the grass, taking her heels off on her way so they would not sink into the soil. Violet stopped on her way to face Carol and shared a word with Regina.

                “Violet, there’s something I have to tell you,” said Regina. “It’s important.”

                “Tell me after the battle,” said Violet. “When I win.”

                Regina looked unsure, but did as her friend said nonetheless.

                “Violet, good luck,” said Quigley, giving Violet a kiss for good luck.

                “Thank you,” said Violet. “You promise not to interfere?”

                “I promise,” said Quigley.

                Everyone else wished Violet luck and then she faced Carol.

                “Let’s begin,” said Violet. Carol smirked as she untied her choli and pulled it off. The coin bra underneath was very revealing, just like Violet’s was earlier. But unlike Violet, Carol was not young and perky, so neither were her breasts. Violet hoped that Carol’s coin bra was secure, because if anything came out if it during the fight, Violet didn’t think she’d ever be able to un-see it. Carol then shimmied, making the coins on her bra jingle, and a blinding light filled the yard. Carol’s transformation was not as magnificent as Violet’s and Sunny’s, but it was still very long and dramatic. When it was over, Carol was dressed in a similar outfit as Violet’s from earlier, but red instead of purple, and more revealing. The silk skirt was still floor length, but Carol’s skirt was divided in panels, the slats of which came all the way up Carol’s thighs to the beaded belt which sat low on her hips. It seemed as though it would only take a slight breeze to blow the skirt and reveal things that Violet did not want to see.

                Violet pulled the ribbon from her dress and tied up her hair. Her transformation was repeated the same as it had been in the parlor. When it was finished and Violet’s feet touched the ground, she noticed something that she didn’t have before. A matching silk veil was tucked into her belt, ready to use. Unfortunately, Violet knew nothing about belly dance, so she was clueless when it came to using a veil. Later in Violet’s life, she will wish that she had taken belly dance classes during her time at the academy, because that skill would have been incredibly useful in this situation.

                Carol flew into the air and Violet followed, her heart beating as she got further and further from the ground. Across from her, Carol pulled out a set of zills and gracefully slipped them onto her fingers. She began playing a tune with them, snaking her arms and rolling her hips. When Carol shimmied her shoulders, jingling the coins on her bra, some of the coins flew from the bra and zoomed toward Violet, taking on blade like qualities. Violet dodged the coins at the last minute, but one of them grazed her cheek, leaving sliver of blood in its wake.

                “Ha! You don’t even know how to belly dance, which means you can’t use your powers!” said Carol. “Little did you know, I’m a belly dance teacher on the weekends.”

                _Oh no! I don’t stand a chance!_ Violet thought. But then she remembered a show she went to a while ago with Quigley. It was a belly dance show. Violet remembered how in one dance, the dancers twirled their veils around them in mesmerizing patterns. Just as Carol was about to shimmy again, sending another bout of razor sharp coins, Violet pulled her veil from her belt and tried to copy what she had seen on stage all that time ago. The dance moves flowed from Violet’s mind as if she had been dancing for years and as the veil passed in front of Violet, the razor coins hit the silk…making them fall uselessly to the ground below. _The veil is a shield!_ Violet thought, trying some more moves as she became more and more confident. She circled her hips around and then undulated her body, then shimmied her hips, making the beads and coins on her belt fly off and attack Carol. Faster than what seemed to be comprehensible, Carol used her zills to deflect each and every bead and coin, then she continued her sharp melody that she played on her zills. With another bout of coins from Carol’s bra, Violet attempted a very difficult move with her veil.

                Violet held her veil in front of her and began spinning. The silk veil fluttered around her as she spun. Then, the veil doubled seamlessly and Violet was all of a sudden holding the ends of two veils, the silken veils creating a fluttering flower effect around Violet’s spinning form. This time, when Carol’s coins hit Violet’s spinning shield, the coins bounced off and shot back at Carol at lightning speed. Carol once again deflected the projectiles with her zills. Then she stripped the zills from her fingers and tossed them like Frisbees at Violet. Violet attempted a barrel spin with the veils, but the zills were sharper and heftier than the coins and they left the veils in shreds. 

                The battle continued this way for quite some time and Violet did not know how long she could go on. Even without the ribbon, Carol was just too powerful for her, especially now that her veils were in shreds. Even though Violet was getting the hang of belly dancing and using the veils, Carol was still better since she was a belly dance teacher.

                Violet knew she needed something to help her in this battle. She was without her veils and Carol seemed to be dancing again in preparation for another attack. Then, Violet remembered when Sunny told her and Klaus about her giant rocket cannon that she summoned with her powers. Violet closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to summon some kind of weapon that might help her like that. When she opened her eyes, she was holding a saidi cane in her hand. She didn’t quite know what to do with the cane until she saw a seam in the bamboo. She pulled the handle of the cane away from the rest of the cane, revealing a belly dance saber within.

                “Two can play at that game!” Carol said. Carol summoned her own sword, a bronze saber with intricate patterns decorating the blade. The two women charged at each other, their swords clanging loudly when they met in the middle. They parried back and forth, Violet struggling to keep up. With a swipe of her blade, Violet accidentally sliced through one of the straps of Carol’s coin bra, letting that side of her bra hang limply. Carol’s breast was dangerously close to coming out. But Carol didn’t seem to notice, since she still was attacking Violet with full force.

                After an intense sword battle, the two women spun away from each other. They faced each other, holding their swords at the ready. Then they both let out mighty battle cries and charged. When their swords collided, Violet’s blade shattered into a million pieces. The force of the explosion knocked Violet right out of the sky. She fell to the ground, landing at the feet of her friends and siblings. When she hit the ground, the ribbon fell out of her hair and she was all of a sudden back in her evening gown.

                Violet’s friends and siblings surrounded her, asking if she was okay.

                “She’s too powerful,” said Violet, still catching her breath. “I can’t defeat her.”

                “Violet, remember when I said that I had something to tell you?” Regina said, helping Violet stand up.

                “Yes,” said Violet.

                “I think I should tell you now,” said Regina, reaching up a hand to touch the pearl necklace around her neck. “I too, am a Magical Girl.”

                Everyone gasped as Regina stepped back and her necklace started glowing. In a burst of stars, Regina floated up into the air. The stars around her all flew back and stuck to her body like she was a magnet. Her entire form was covered in the bright lights. Her gleaming, shimmering form floated higher in the air, turning around, and when she stopped, the stars all exploded away from her, revealing her new form. The new gown that Regina was wearing was glowing silver. It was slim fitted and short and covering her chest and arms was a sheer fabric that seemed to be made of stars. She wore shiny black boots that came up to her knees and there seemed to be some sort of halo behind her head that shimmered like a setting sun.

                Regina flew up into the air and began battling Carol. From the ground, Violet thought that Carol’s boob might have fallen out of her coin bra, but she wasn’t sure. Either way, she was glad that she was not up there to see it. The battle looked pretty epic, with Carol flinging coins from her bra and belt, and Regina throwing odd balls of light. They parried and dodged and at one point, it looked like Carol was getting the best of Regina.

                “I’m going to help her,” Sunny said, already pulling her gum out of her pocket.

                “Sunny, no,” Violet said. “Carol is too strong.”

                Sunny looked up at the battle happening above them and tried to imagine what Violet was talking about. Carol didn’t seem all that powerful. In fact, Sunny didn’t really understand why she was still winning against Regina, whose powers seemed way better than Carol’s. Carol looked like she was just belly dancing and flinging coins. What was the belly dancing even doing? Sunny decided that she could just end the fight right there with her rocket cannon. She pulled out a piece of gum and threw it into her mouth. Her transformation sequence began, lasting just as long as it did last time. Five minutes, if you recall. It was just as extravagant and extra and dramatic as last time. And when the transformation was over, Sunny’s dress was just as disgusting as she remembered and she tried not to shudder in embarrassment. As Sunny flew up into the air and joined the battle, she still could not figure out why Carol was so difficult to beat. Sunny summoned a giant sword and fought with Carol, who was still using her saber, and was easily knocking away Carol’s attacks. Soon, Sunny was on the offense, pushing Carol back. Regina joined Sunny with her own sword, which was made of light, and added a third force to the battle.

                The battle was going well on Sunny and Regina’s side for quite some time, until Sunny noticed something. The beads and jewels on Carol’s bra and belt seemed to be getting brighter every time she broke into a belly dance solo. After a particularly long and intense solo, Carol stopped and held her hands in front of her. The light from her jewels flowed onto her palms, creating a ball of light. Carol drew her hands back, the ball of light collecting more and more energy. With a mighty cry, Carol thrusted her hands forward, releasing the ball of light. As it flew at Regina and Sunny, it grew to immense size and the last thing Sunny saw was a blinding yellow light that filled all of her senses.


	10. Chapter 10

                It’s been about a week since that fateful day with Carol. No one has seen hide or tail of Carol since then, and they also haven’t seen their magical items. When she blinded everyone with that bright light, she stole Violet’s ribbon, Sunny’s gum, and Regina’s pearls. But the Baudelaires and their friends didn’t give up after that. They have been searching for answers since then. Violet has been trying to invent a magical item so that she could figure out how it works, and Klaus has been spending more and more time in their home library and the college library. For instance, when Sunny came downstairs that Thursday morning, she saw Klaus walk in the front door looking very tired, presumably coming from the college library which he no doubt spent the night in.

                “Good morning!” Sunny said cheerfully.

                “Good morning,” said Klaus less cheerfully. Sunny went to the kitchen and Klaus went to the library. Sunny was planning on making huevos rancheros omelets that morning and she hoped they had enough eggs.

                They did have enough eggs and the omelets looked great. Sunny set three plates and went to the library where Klaus was curled up in one of the big chairs reading a book. Just as Sunny set down the three plates on the study table in the middle of the room, Violet walked in and said “good morning” cheerfully. But before either of Violet’s siblings could respond to her greeting, she gasped and said, “Klaus! What’s that on your neck?”

                Sunny looked over at Klaus just as he slapped a hand over his neck.

                “Violet, don’t you dare say a word,” he said, not taking his eyes off the book. Violet pranced up to Klaus and tried to pry his hand away from his neck. “Violet! Stop!”

                “My name is Hickleberry Hickstonburg,” Violet said in a silly voice. “But you can call me Hickey!”

                At that, Klaus leapt from his chair and chased Violet around the room. Violet juked him out, making him fall over a stack of books, but he quickly got back up. The two siblings chased each other around for a while until Klaus finally tackled Violet, making them fall into a giggling heap on the ground. Sunny giggled around her mouthful of omelet. She didn’t know what that was all about, but she liked seeing her brother and sister goof around with each other like that. After Violet inherited their fortune and the three of them settled down in this house, it took them quite some time before they were able to act like this around each other again. Sunny didn’t really remember a whole lot from before the fire, but Violet and Klaus told her about how the two of them would play pranks on each other and joke like this all the time. Sunny was glad to see them having moments like that again.

                “Before Violet’s incredibly rude entrance,” Klaus said as he and Violet took seats with Sunny and started eating. “I was going to tell you guys that I think my entomology Professor might know more than he’s letting on.”

                “Oh please Klaus,” Violet said, still giggling. “It wasn’t rude. You were practically _begging_ for someone to say something about that thing.”

                “I didn’t even know it was there!” Klaus said.

                “You lying whore-“

                “So, did you discover anything about your professor?” Sunny interrupted. Sunny much preferred to talk about the mysterious professor rather than be left out of an embarrassing joke that she didn’t understand.

                “Well, no,” Klaus admitted, clearly glad to change the subject. “Basil and I decided to talk to him one of these days. Because he knew about the catacombs under the library and he suggested that we might find answers concerning the magical items down there. But, of course, we never found anything there because we got captured before we could properly explore.”

                “Do you think he’s a volunteer?” Violet asked.

                “I’m not sure,” said Klaus. “But I want to find out. Other than that, I have not yet found any information on the magical items.”

                “Maybe we should talk to Regina,” said Violet. “I’m not sure how long she’s been a Magical Girl but surely she must have some more experience.”

                “Yeah, maybe,” Klaus pondered.

                The next day, Klaus and Basil went to Professor Vishnibhanupudi’s office after his classes. The professor’s office was decorated with posters depicting intricate scenes illustrating the lives of various insects in an artful manner. Professor Vishnibhanupudi was grading essays when the two boys walked in.

                “Good afternoon Mr. Baudelaire and Mr. Brochetveileska,” said Professor Vishnibhanupudi. “How can I help you?”

                “We were wondering what you could tell us about the catacombs under the library,” Klaus said. Professor Vishnibhanupudi looked taken aback at first, then he cocked his head and looked between his two students.

                “I didn’t realize this was a sad occasion,” he said.

                “The world is quiet here,” Basil responded. Basil and Klaus shared a significant look with Professor Vishnibhanupudi.

                “Close the door please,” said Professor Vishnibhanupudi and Basil closed the door. “I had a feeling about you two. I assume you followed my note I gave to you and discovered the entrance. What exactly do you want to know about the catacombs?”

                “We want to know what’s down there that could give us more information on the magical items that I mentioned to you last time. Since then, we have come across several other magical items and we want to know more about it,” Klaus explained.

                “Magical items,” Professor Vishnibhanupudi said. “Do you mean Magical Girl magical items?”

                “Yes,” said Basil. “That’s exactly what we mean.”

                “There is another magical item in the catacombs,” said Professor Vishnibhanupudi. “I don’t know if it will answer any questions for you though.”

                “What is it?” asked Klaus.

                “It’s a book. When someone looks upon the pages of this book, it triggers a magical girl transformation,” Professor Vishnibhanupudi explained. “I personally don’t know a whole lot about the topic of magical girl magical items but I am very interested in it. I have been trying to do a bit more research on it recently. However, if you really want to find answers, I know someone who can help you. There are manuals out there for magical girl magical item usage. I know someone who knows how to get these manuals. His name is Bobby and he works at the Jasmine Lotus restaurant on the docks. The only way he can deliver these manuals is by secretly slipping it to a paying customer at the restaurant. I personally have been banned from the premises of that particular restaurant, but you two can go. When you are seated, Bobby will come to take your order. Ask for the Chef’s Special Kung Pow Chicken. Bobby will bring you an envelope with the manual inside. You’ll have to leave soon after that, because there are many people out there trying to get ahold of these manuals.”

                Klaus wondered what Professor Vishnibhanupudi did to get himself banned from the Jasmine Lotus restaurant, but he figured it would be impolite to ask about such a thing.

                “We’ll go tonight,” said Klaus, looking over at Basil. Basil nodded in agreement.

                “Be careful you two,” said Professor Vishnibhanupudi. “Researching magical girl magical items is a Vigorously Formidable Deed, and I wish you both the best of luck in this dangerous expedition you have chosen.”

                Both boys thanked their professor and left, ready to have dinner at the Jasmine Lotus restaurant.


	11. Chapter 11

That evening found Klaus and Basil riding together in a cab to the docks. They both wore earpieces which allowed them to communicate with Violet, Sunny, and Beth who were back at home. They all knew how dangerous a mission this was and the boys needed to be in contact with their backup. The cab dropped them off in from of the Jasmine Lotus restaurant and Basil and Klaus went inside. There were only a few tables in the restaurant that were taken, but other than that, the place was anything but busy. Basil and Klaus took a booth in the back of the restaurant, near the doors to the kitchen. Within a minute, there was a waiter at their table.

                “What can I get for you?” asked the waiter. Although he was Chinese, his Chinese accent was very fake. Klaus glanced at his nametag, which said “Bobby”.

                “We’ll share the Chef’s Special Kung Pow Chicken,” said Klaus.

                Bobby glanced between the two boys and then nodded once, hurrying off. Bobby came back shortly after with an envelope.

                “You’d better get out of here,” said Bobby. “There are people hunting for this. Look, almost everyone is already gone.”

                Klaus looked at the rest of the restaurant and noticed that Bobby was right. The only other customers were already getting up and heading to the register to pay. Soon, the restaurant would be the perfect spot for an ambush, or a shootout, or any number of other sinister things. As soon as Bobby walked away and went back to the kitchen, Klaus and Basil started to get up. There was a loud crash behind the kitchen doors, and they heard Bobby yell. All of a sudden, it went silent. Water began rushing under the doors of the kitchen and it flooded into the dining area. Klaus and Basil looked at each other, then they peeked into the kitchen. Bobby was lying unconscious on the ground and they couldn’t tell where the water was coming from. No one else was back there. Both boys ran to the front doors of the restaurant, splashing through the already inch deep water, but when they tried to open the doors, they found that they were sealed shut.

                “What’s going on there?” Violet asked though their earpieces.

                “The restaurant is flooding and we think we might be locked in here,” said Klaus.

                “Find a vent or something to use to climb out,” said Sunny.

                “There are no vents,” said Basil.

                Sure enough, the boys had looked around for vents but to no avail. The water was quickly reaching waist level. They waded into the kitchen and looked around for another door. There was one against the back wall, but this one was also sealed shut.

                “Get Bobby,” Klaus ordered. “I have to find a Ziploc or something for this manual.”

                While Basil waded over to where Bobby was and pulled his head above the water, Klaus rifled through every drawer and cupboard looking for a plastic bag. By the time he found one, the water was already reaching chest level and Klaus had to hold the manual above the water to slip it into the bag and seal it shut. Luckily, the manual was a small booklet that easily fit into a normal sized sandwich bag.

                “I’ll look for a key back here for that door,” said Basil. “Go try to break the glass on the front doors out there.”

                Klaus went out to the main dining room and grabbed a chair. Then he waded over to the front doors and tried breaking the glass with the chair. The glass seemed to be too sturdy to break. In fact, Klaus realized the glass was bulletproof after seeing some bullet dents in it. So Klaus dropped the chair and swam back to the kitchen where Basil was dragging Bobby around trying to find a key. Klaus helped him look. The water was now at their necks and they had to start standing on counters to easily move around. The girl’s voices were becoming frantic in their ears and Klaus realized he hadn’t answered them.

                “We’re okay for now, but the water is still rising,” he said. “We still haven’t found a way out…”

                “We’re on our way,” said Violet. “Keep looking for a way out. We’ll be there soon.”

                The water was now about a foot away from the ceiling. Both Klaus and Basil were standing on counters to keep their heads above water. Just then, Klaus saw something across the room. It was a set of keys hanging from a hook.

                “I see the keys!” said Klaus. “Basil, stay here and wait for me. When the water reaches the ceiling, wait by the door. When I open the door, I don’t want you getting stuck on the wall when all the water rushes out.”

                Klaus took a deep breath and dove under the water. He swam as fast as he could across the room and grabbed the keys. When he surfaced again to take a breath, there was only about an inch of air left. He stayed there breathing deeply until the small space of air disappeared entirely. Basil and Klaus both took one last deep breath and went under the water. Klaus swam to the door and started trying the different keys. After three failed attempts, Klaus began to worry that they would drown in here. Klaus’ lungs were already starting to burn and he knew they wouldn’t have much time left. But then the fourth key slid into the lock and turned. Before Klaus turned the doorknob, he grabbed Basil and pulled him and Bobby behind him.

                Klaus opened the door and the water rushed out with such a great force that Klaus didn’t know what was happening for a few seconds. When he regained his bearings, Klaus found himself on the dock, water pouring over him and draining into the ocean through the boards and off the side. When the rushing water began to settle down and the restaurant emptied out, Klaus looked up. He saw Basil draped over Bobby. Klaus panicked for a moment until he saw Basil sit up and start coughing. He got up and rushed to Basil’s side pulling him into a tight embrace. The two boys held each other there while they caught their breath. Then when they pulled away, they kissed each other.

                “We should make sure Bobby is okay,” Basil said. Klaus reluctantly pulled away from his boyfriend and went to Bobby’s side. He felt Bobby’s pulse, finding a slight beat still there.

                “He’s alive,” Klaus said, then flipped Bobby over onto his back. He performed CPR, this being only the second time Klaus has ever had to use it. After two rounds of CPR, Bobby began coughing. The two boys helped Bobby to sit up and bend over so he could cough up all the water in his lungs and they stayed with him until he caught his breath.

                “I heard a story about Drexel getting caught in a similar situation as this one once,” said Klaus. “He got caught in an Italian restaurant that filled with water, just like this. I didn’t believe him at the time.”

                “That guy is so cool,” said Basil.

                “What? No way!” Bobby said, still catching his breath. “Drexel is a ‘lil bitch!”

                Klaus’ eyebrows flew up. Not only was Bobby’s statement a bit shocking, his Chinese accent was gone, replaced with an American accent. Before Klaus could respond, they heard a car horn from around the side of the building. Klaus looked and saw the black car that he and his sisters rarely used. He and Basil helped Bobby up and they made their way to the car.

                “Are you guys alright?” Sunny asked as soon as the car doors opened and Klaus, Basil and Bobby piled in.

                “Yeah, we’re fine,” Klaus said. “Everyone, this is Bobby. Bobby, these are my sisters, Violet and Sunny, and this is Basil’s sister, Beth.”

                “It’s nice to meet you all,” said Bobby.  

                “Likewise,” Violet said. “Let’s get out of here before whoever flooded that restaurant comes back.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

                After going to the Baudelaire home and drying off, Bobby went on his way, promising to keep in touch. Beth fussed over the boys and Violet and Sunny asked them how on earth they managed to get into a situation such as that.

                “We have no idea,” said Basil. “We didn’t see anyone come in and the restaurant emptied out so fast. It was almost as if whoever flooded the place was expecting us.”

                “And yet, they didn’t try to ambush you when you got out,” Violet said, tying up her hair with her ribbon.

                “Maybe they assumed that we would drown,” Klaus said.

                “Who do you suppose it was who flooded the restaurant?” Sunny asked. “Was it Carol?”

                “I don’t know,” Violet said, standing up and beginning to pace. “It doesn’t seem like something Carol would do. She doesn’t fight like that.”

                The group went silent, all of them trying to think of who would do such a thing. The fire crackled in the fireplace at the other side of the sitting room they were in. After a long moment of silence, Violet spoke.

                “I wish the Quagmires were here,” she said. “I wonder if they know anything about these magical items.”

                The Quagmires, along with Beatrice, went back to the city where they worked at the headquarters. The Baudelaires missed their sister and friends dearly.

                “We could always call them and ask,” Klaus said. “Or we could take a trip to the city. We don’t have classes this week and we haven’t been to the city headquarters in quite some time.”

                “That’s true,” said Violet.

                “Yes! Can we please go?” Sunny said. “I still haven’t seen Beatrice’s office.”

                “And we can show you guys our old offices,” said Beth. “Basil and I used to work there before we started classes at Cholmondeley.”

                “Also, the headquarters’ library is sure to have something on magical items,” Basil said.

                And so it was agreed. The Baudelaires and the Brochetveileskas packed their bags and took a trip to the city. They checked into the Hotel Fomento which was only a block away from the headquarters. They planned on surprising Beatrice and the Quagmires by showing up at the office. When they arrived at the headquarters, which was disguised as a banking office, which was disguised as a library, they asked the receptionist where the offices were that they were looking for. The Quagmires were on the eleventh floor and Beatrice was on the tenth. They stopped at Beatrice’s office first.

                When they knocked on the door, they heard her voice inside say, “Come in!” Violet opened the door and she, Sunny and Klaus walked in, Beth and Basil hesitantly looming in the doorway. Beatrice’s eyes lit up when she saw them and she leapt from her chair to rush over and give them hugs. Beatrice’s office was spacious, while still being cozy. The only light in the room came from the green lamp on her mahogany desk. Behind the desk was a large, plush leather chair. Besides the lamp and some paper work on the desk, there was a small tree void of leaves that extended into multiple branches. Hanging from the branches were three sleeping bats. Well, they were sleeping, but when five loud humans came into the room, they began to crack their tired eyes open to see what the ruckus was.

                “I missed you guys!” Beatrice said. “I had no idea you were coming! What are you guys doing in the city?”

                “We’re looking for more information on magical items,” Klaus said.

                Beatrice looked at each person in her office with skeptical eyes.

                “Magical Girl magical items?” she asked.

                “Yes,” said Violet.

                “Close the door,” said Beatrice. “I’m afraid I haven’t been entirely truthful with you. Violet, Klaus, Sunny…Beth and Basil……..I am a Magical Girl.”


	12. Chapter 12

“What?” Violet was in shock. “How could you not tell us?”

                “It was a secret! I’m part of a sub-secret organization within V.F.D. made up of Magical Girls,” said Beatrice. “When you and Sunny got those magical items and had magical girl transformations, we thought about telling you, but then your magical items were stolen, and we decided to wait. But, since you know now, you are welcome to join. Our rule in this organization is that once someone has a magical girl transformation, they are forever a magical girl, which qualifies you to be in our organization. Both you and Sunny have had magical girl transformations, so you are both magical girls forever now.”

                “Even though we don’t have our magical items anymore?” asked Violet.

                “Yes,” said Beatrice.

                “What about us?” Klaus asked, gesturing to himself, Basil and Beth. “None of us have had magical girl transformations, but now we know about the organization.”

                “I have a feeling you’ll all be joining soon enough, now that you’ve decided to begin researching the subject of magical items,” said Beatrice. “But until then, you must promise to keep it a secret, even from other volunteers, unless of course they are a magical girl.”

                The siblings and friends looked at each other with unfathomable emotions crossing each of their faces. None of them really knew what to think. Beatrice went back to sit behind her desk and scratched the heads of her sleepy bats. They nuzzled her finger and stretched their wings as they woke up.

                “Now that you all know about the Magical Girl sub-organization,” Beatrice said. “You should know about the work that we do. Have a seat and I’ll explain.”

                Beatrice’s five guests took seats on the couch and chair across the desk.

                “Not only do we study magical items, we protect them as well. There are several people out in the world who hunt for magical items,” Beatrice began. “And these people are looking to own these items for nefarious purposes. You have encountered one such person; Carol. She is a villainous collector of magical items who must be stopped. Klaus and Basil encountered another villainous collector at the Jasmine Lotus restaurant. They were trying to destroy the magical girl magical items manual. I am glad to see that you two are safe. I haven’t been receiving very complete news concerning your wellbeing.”

                “You have someone watching us?” Violet asked.

                “Regina keeps an eye on you for me,” Beatrice said. “Don’t worry, she isn’t spying on you. She's just letting me know you’re safe. But enough about that. What I’m trying to say is, now that you guys are studying magical items, it’s your responsibility to defend this community from villains such as Carol and the person who tried to drown Klaus and Basil. Klaus, do you still have the manual?”

                “Of course,” Klaus said, pulling the manual out of a pocket within his jacket. “I’ve already read through it twice since I got it.”

                “Good,” said Beatrice. “Well, my babies here want to go back to sleep, so we should probably take our conversation elsewhere. I’m sure you would like to see the Quagmires as well.”

                “Yes, we would,” Violet said. “Do they know about this sub-organization?”

                “Yes, they are an active part of it,” said Beatrice. Her five guests were once again shocked.

                “I can’t believe all this has been under our noses all this time,” Sunny said.

                “Indeed,” Beatrice said. “I am sorry that I had to keep all this from you, but you must understand. We need to keep this sub-organization secret at all costs. We can’t allow magical items to fall into the wrong hands. They’re just too powerful.”

                They followed Beatrice out of her office and down the hall. As soon as they were out of her office, Beatrice changed the subject.

                “I heard that Drexel is coming to this HQ next week for an assignment,” she said. “That guy is really cool.”

                “He’s okay,” Klaus said.

                “I’ve never met him,” Beatrice admitted.

                “Neither have I,” Violet said.

                “Neither have I,” said Sunny. And then Basil and Beth repeated the same thing.

                “I also heard that Regina is coming to the city for a show,” Beatrice said as they all piled into an elevator. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Beatrice said, “I also heard that there is a big party being thrown by the governor. There’s going to be a magical item there that’s going to be stolen by the same person who attacked Klaus and Basil. We need to get it before it falls into the wrong hands.”

                As the elevator doors opened and they stepped out, Beatrice changed the subject to small talk. They followed her down the hall and around a few corners until they arrived at three offices with the doors open. Upon looking inside the first two, the group found them empty, but the third one was not. And when the group entered the third office, they were met with much a similar greeting as they had received from Beatrice.

                “What are you guys doing in the city?” Isadora asked.

                “You didn’t call or anything, we had no idea you’d be coming,” said Duncan.

                “It’s wonderful to see you all again!” said Quigley.

                Before the Baudelaires could greet their friends and answer their questions, Beatrice interrupted by clearing her throat.

                “Quagmires, there’s something we need to discuss,” Beatrice said as she closed the door of the office. “It seems that we have five new volunteers joining us in our sub-organization.”

                Duncan’s eyebrows raised in surprise, Isadora beamed, and Quigley nodded as if he were impressed but also as if he were expecting this.

                “It’s about time,” said Quigley.

                “Yeah! I mean, we knew it would happen eventually, ever since Violet and Sunny had their transformations,” said Isadora. “But it’s so exciting that it’s finally happening.”

                “You guys have a lot of responsibility now that you’re part of this,” said Duncan. “There are a lot of people out there who are trying to get ahold of magical items for nefarious purposes. Our job is to stop the magical items from falling into the wrong hands.”

                “I have a question,” Violet said. “What exactly _are_ magical items? How do they work? Surely they aren’t really magical, right?”

                “We’re not exactly sure yet,” said Beatrice. “We have been researching magical items for quite some time, but no one has been able to figure out how they work. It seems that they are truly magical, even though that seems absurd. There is more research required though, for us to determine if this is true.”

                “Magical items could be any object,” said Quigley. “A magical item is simply an object on which certain abilities are imposed upon. Some illusive manufactured product brands are magical, such as Sunny’s gum, Parmenides Flower. Most are completely unique, such as Violet’s ribbon. Some are more powerful than others, and then there is also the matter of certain items matching up with certain people. For instance, a specific item might be especially powerful when it falls into the hands of the person it was meant for, but if someone of a completely different personality gets ahold of this item, it might be less powerful and difficult for them to use.”

                “And no one really knows how they work yet,” said Duncan. “We’re still trying to figure that out. But if you’re wondering how to use them, you’ll have to read the manual. Every item has its own unique usage.”

                “Beatrice, did you tell them about the party this weekend?” Isadora asked.

                “Yes,” said Beatrice, then she turned to Violet. “We have yet to form a team for this mission.”

                “Perhaps we can form a team right now,” said Isadora. “Violet and I can go. So can Beth, and isn’t Regina coming into town tomorrow?”

                “Yeah, she is,” said Violet. “What exactly is the mission?”

                “We need to infiltrate the party disguised as guests and find out which party guest is the one planning to steal the magical item,” Isadora explained.

                “What is the item that we need to get?” Violet asked.

                “It’s a bottle of Chivas scotch whiskey,” Quigley said with a smirk.

                “Seriously?” Violet asked with a raised eyebrow.

                “Seriously,” said Quigley.

                “It’ll be located in a safe in the liqueur cellar beneath the bar,” Isadora said.

                “Wait, so let me get this straight,” Beth said. “Are we just trying to keep it safe, or are we actually trying to steal it before the villain steals it?”

                “We have to steal it,” said Isadora. “Unfortunately, the person who owns the bottle already is using it for nefarious purposes. We have to secure it and put it in our vault. This party may be our only opportunity.”

                “Alright, I’m in,” said Violet.

                “Me too,” said Beth.

                “What about the rest of us?” asked Sunny.

                “We’re going to be backup,” said Quigley. “We’ll hack into the security system and watch them from a van outside.”

                “It’s gonna be real spy movie stuff,” Duncan said with a chuckle.

                “I have a question,” said Klaus. “Where are we getting the funding for these missions? Do the financial advisors of V.F.D. know about this sub-organization?”

                “No. They think it’s a book club,” said Duncan. Everyone in the room went silent for a moment as they tried to decide if he was being serious or not. When they realized it wasn’t a joke, they all burst into laughter.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art by me! Also, go follow me on tumblr at grandpabasket.tumblr.com

Violet

Regina

Beth

Isadora

“We’re in,” Regina said, then she chuckled. “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

                “Be on the lookout guys,” Quigley said into their earpieces. Regina, Violet, Beth and Isadora made their entrance to the ball. Everyone in the ballroom was donned in slick suits and beautiful ball gowns. Violet was in a dark violet gown, Regina was in green, Isadora in blue and Beth was in red. They all looked amazing.

                The four girls looked around the ballroom. No one looked particularly suspicious, but they knew that they needed to stay on their toes. The four of them went to the bar and ordered cocktails. As they sipped their drinks, they gazed about the room.

                “It could be anyone here,” said Isadora.

                “Yeah, we don’t even know what this person looks like,” said Violet.

                “We have to judge people and make the decision for ourselves,” said Regina. “We can do it. We’re professionals.”

                “Alright then,” said Isadora. “Let’s mingle.”

                The four girls pushed away from the bar and split up, dispersing into the crowd. Violet spoke with a group of five computer programmers who told her about the new technology that they were developing, but she didn’t learn anything about the person who flooded the restaurant. Beth tried to be a wallflower and observe from the side but was approached by a fellow in a top hat who offered her a suspicious drink. She didn’t accept the drink but chatted with him nonetheless. Unfortunately, the man had no knowledge of magical items. Isadora bought a drink for a woman wearing an extremely fancy hat who told her all about her husband, whom she was planning to poison, but she knew nothing of the heist that was going to take place that night. Regina flirted with the governor _and_ the governor’s wife, almost getting herself into a threesome, but unfortunately they knew nothing about a certain magical bottle of Chivas.

                “I got nothing,” Regina sighed, leaning against the bar.

                “Me neither,” said Violet.

                “Same here,” said Isadora.

                “This party is very crowded,” Beth said.

                “You guys still there?” Regina asked into her earpiece.

                “Yeah, we’re here,” said Klaus. “This looks like it’s going to be harder than we thought.”

                “Definitely,” said Violet. “Maybe we should-”

                “Guys, something’s happening,” Duncan’s voice cut her off. “Some of the cameras are going out.”

                “You guys should-” Sunny’s voice was interrupted by static and then the connection cut out.

                “What happened?” Isadora asked. “Guys? Are you there?”

                No one replied from the other end of their earpieces. The girls looked at each other.

                “Should we leave?” Beth asked.

                “No, let’s stay and finish the job,” said Violet.

                “Wait, did you see that man over there?” Isadora said, pointing across the room. Through the crowd, there was a man who was looking around in a shifty manner. He had one hand in his coat. “I’ll go check him out. But we need a distraction. Can you three somehow divert the attention of the crowd?”

                “Yes,” Regina said, smiling. “Yes we can.”

                As Isadora left them to confront the man across the room, Regina led Beth and Violet over to the stage where there was a small band playing off to the side. She stepped up onto the stage and walked right over to the man sitting behind the grand piano. She whispered into his ear and then she whispered to Beth and Violet.

                “We’re the performers for tonight,” she explained. “Can you guys be my backup singers and dancers for ‘I Will Survive’?”

                “Of course,” said Violet. “I performed it with you at the Chelsey concert.”

                “I mean, I suppose,” Beth said nervously, wringing her hands.

                “Alright, get ready at the back, I’ll do the opening,” said Regina.

                Before the girls could object or say anything, they were ushered to the back of the stage where there were two standing microphones waiting for them in the dark. The lights of the ballroom went down and a spotlight shined on the piano. Regina was laying across the piano, her green dress spilling over the side and glittering in the light. The pianist played an arpeggio all the way to the highest key and then back down to the lowest. As the lowest note rang out, Regina slowly sat up and sang the first note of the song.

                “ _At first I was afraid, I was petrified, kept thinking I could never live without you by my side. But then I spent so many nights, thinkin how ya did me wrong…and I grew strong…And I learned how to get along, and so you’re back! From outer space!..._ ”

                The lights on the stage came on and the beat picked up. Regina got off of the piano and strutted to the middle of the stage. Violet and Beth sang backup and swung their hips side to side to the beat. The audience was captivated.

                “ _Weren’t you the one who tried to crush me with goodbyes? You think I’d crumble, you think I’d lay down and die? Oh no not I! I will survive!”_

A disco ball slowly lowered from the ceiling and Regina took hold of her standing microphone. As she sang, she danced with the standing mic as if it were a person. She spun it around and danced across the stage. The crowd was getting into the music, dancing with each other and cheering. Violet and Beth left their mics so that they could join Regina at the front of the stage. The three girls joined in singing the song as they danced around each other. They came together in the center of the stage and got close. The three of them spun around each other, turning in a circle. The crowd went wild as the three girls mesmerized the party. The three of them were so enraptured with the song, they failed to notice Isadora being ambushed and dragged away in the back of the crowd.

                When the song ended, before the audience could even applause, all the lights in the entire ballroom went out. The crowd screamed in the complete darkness.

                “Violet, Beth!” Regina called out. The three girls found each other and grabbed hands.

                “What’s happening?” Violet asked, having to shout over the panicking crowd.

                “I don’t know, but we should get out,” said Beth. But the girls never got a chance to get out, or do anything after that at all, because all three of them were ambushed from behind and knocked unconscious.


	14. Chapter 14

Violet cracked her eyes open and tried to look around. Her head ached where she was hit. Through her blurred vision, she could tell that she was in some kind of underground, dim cavern. The sound of dripping water was the only thing to be heard. Once Violet’s head cleared a bit more, she could hear voices, specifically Regina’s voice.

                “Please, don’t,” Regina was sobbing over and over again. “Please don’t.”

                Violet’s eyesight cleared up and she realized that she was in fact in some kind of underground cavern. Violet was halfway laying in a puddle of water. Her dress was soaked and her hair was stuck to her forehead.

                “Please, please, don’t…” Regina said. Then she screamed a blood curdling scream. That woke Violet up. She sat up and got a look at what was happening. Sitting on a throne made of gold was a person of indeterminate gender. This person was wearing a suit jacket with a patterned blouse underneath. Their pants were made of gold silk. Their hair spilled over one side of their face and their dark blue lips were curled into a smile. In their hand was a golden leash, and at the end of that leash was a full grown tiger. The tiger lounged lazily next to the golden throne.

                At the foot of the throne, three men held onto an unconscious Beth, and behind them, two men held onto Regina, who was on her knees.

                “She’s awake,” said a voice from directly above Violet, making her startle.

                “Bring her over,” said the person on the throne. The man above Violet lifted her up and dragged her over to where her two friends were. She tried to struggle but she could hardly move. As she got closer to the throne, she realized that she vaguely recognized the person sitting in it, but she couldn’t place them.

                “And you must be Violet,” the person said. “My name is Mack. It’s nice to meet you.”   

                “What do you want with us?” Violet growled.

                “I want you to stay out of my business,” Mack said calmly. “I want that magical bottle of Chevas. I want that manual that your associate has. I want my _damn cocktail! Where the hell is my damn cocktail?_ ”

                Someone hurried into the cavern with a fancy glass in their hands. They handed the glass to Mack who took a long drink.

                “I want a lot of things. But we can’t all get what we want,” said Mack. “But there is one thing I can get that I want. I can have you three girls killed and out of my way. Starting with the lovely Beth.”

                “No, please don’t hurt her,” Regina begged. “Take me first. I’ll go first.”

                Violet looked over at Regina in shock. What was she doing?

                “No volunteers,” said Mack.

                “You were the one who flooded the restaurant,” said Violet.

                “Very astute, Violet,” Mack said, clapping slowly. They nodded to their men who lifted Beth from the ground. One of them had a wire wrapped around his hand, ready to strangle Violet’s unconscious friend. Violet struggled to get out of the grip of her captor but to no avail. Regina pleaded with Mack, also to no avail. The man with the wire lifted his arms and placed the wire around Beth’s neck and began pulling.

                “Stop right there!” someone shouted from behind Violet. Everyone looked. Klaus, Basil, Quigley and Duncan were storming into the cavern, marching fearlessly up to Mack’s throne. When they arrived at the scene, Klaus stopped in his tracks, staring at Mack. Violet looked at Mack and saw that they were looking at Klaus with the same shocked expression.

                “Klaus? Klaus Baudelaire?” Mack said incredulously.

                “Mack? Mack Stormer?” Klaus said incredulously.

                “Oh my god, what have you been doing with your life?” Mack asked with a chuckle.

                “I’m at school,” said Klaus, also chuckling. “How have you been?”

                Violet looked between her brother and her captor incredulously. Fortunately, the man who was strangling Beth had dropped his wire and was also listening to this conversation.

                “I’ve been well, I’ve been well,” said Mack. “What on earth are you doing here?”

                “I’m here rescuing my sister and friends,” said Klaus. “What are you doing here?”

                “I’m the one who captured them,” Mack said, starting to laugh. “Oh my god, I can’t believe this! This is so funny, what a wild coincidence!”

                “I know! I can’t believe this,” Klaus said, also laughing.

                “Holy shit, do you remember when we dated?” Mack asked.

                “Yeah I remember,” said Klaus. “Those were wild times.”

                “They sure were,” said Mack. “Oh, shit, were you the one in that restaurant I flooded?”

                “Yeah, that was me and my boyfriend you tried to kill,” said Klaus, nodding.

                “Man, I’m sorry, I had no idea,” said Mack. “Is your boyfriend here right now?”

                “Yeah, this is Basil,” Klaus said, taking Basil’s hand. Basil looked just as confused as Violet felt. “Basil, this my ex, Mack.”

                “It’s a pleasure to meet you Basil,” said Mack. “You’d better be treating him right, or you’ll have me to deal with.”

                Mack and Klaus both laughed.

                “Well, anyway, I’m really sorry about all this. I guess it was all just a big misunderstanding,” said Mack. “I’ll let you guys go I guess. Just don’t tell anyone, okay?”

                Mack looked at Violet and then at Regina.

                “We won’t” said Klaus.

                “Oh! I almost forgot,” said Mack. “We have your other friend too. Isadora.”

                Mack snapped their fingers and two men came in holding onto a struggling Isadora.

                “Go get Beth,” Klaus said to Duncan and Quigley. “Thank you so much for this, Mack. It was wonderful seeing you again.”

                “Likewise,” said Mack. “Hey, keep in touch, okay?”

                “I will,” Klaus said, approaching Violet and helping her to her feet. And with that, they all left Mack and the men in the cavern and they walked out.


	15. Not a chapter

To my dear readers, 

I would have liked to post more of this story, but my enemies have discovered my location. While I am focusing on escaping on a yacht offered to me by a good friend of mine, this story may be delayed. But do not worry, as soon as I get myself to safety, I will post more. 

Yours truly,  
P.


	16. Also not a Chapter

My dear readers,  
I apologize for my absence. I had a presentation to prepare for. Thankfully, today was finally the day of my presentation. I also finally was able to return the yacht on which I escaped the island on which my presentation was held. Now that I am safely back home with my computer and an internet connection, expect a new chapter if not today then within the next few days.  
Sincerely,  
P.


	17. Chapter 17

“What the _hell_ was that all about?” Violet asked her brother as soon as they got outside. They exited the cavern up some stairs and out a door which was right around the building that the ball was in.

                “I’ll explain later,” he said. “Let’s get out of here before Mack realizes we have the Chivas.”

                “What? You got it?” Violet asked incredulously.

                “Yes, actually, it’s a funny story…”

                “Guys, get in the van!” Sunny shouted from the van, which was still parked outside the venue of the ball. They all hopped in the van and the wheels squealed before the door was even closed.

                Beth woke up during the drive and they took her and her brother back to the hotel so she could rest. The rest of them went to the headquarters to return the van.

                “So, what was so funny about you guys getting the Chivas?” Violet asked as they all settled down in Quigley’s office.

                The boys all laughed.

                “When we got it, it chose one of us,” said Duncan. “When a magical item chooses someone, that means it’s ‘meant to be’ with them, so to speak.”

                “Who did it choose?” asked Isadora.

                “Basil,” said Klaus, chuckling. “He had to use the magical item in order to seal the choosing so he had to take a shot of it. The thing is, Basil is a lightweight. Like, really, one shot and he’s wasted. So it was pretty funny.”

                “Where is the Chivas now?” asked Regina. She had cleaned her face and all three girls had changed into something dry and more comfortable.

                “He has it,” said Duncan. “We were unable to take it from him.”

                “Okay, so we got the Chivas,” said Violet. “What I really want to know is, what the _hell_ was that all about with Mack?”

                Violet turned to her brother who had looked away to hide his red face.

                “We dated a while ago,” Klaus said. “I never told you about them because it wasn’t exactly the best relationship. It was very unhealthy. But I’m definitely not like that anymore and we ended on good terms.”

                “What do you mean?” Violet asked, curiosity bubbling to the surface of her mind. She loved any chance at hearing hot gossip, especially about her brother. Klaus fidgeted and glanced at Sunny, who was in the room with them ready to hear the hot gossip. Beatrice, who also loved hot gossip, had retired to her apartment for the night, so she was not there to get the juicy details.

                “Yeah, was it abusive?” Regina asked, ready to go back and fight Mack if she had to.

                “Not…necessarily,” Klaus said cryptically. He smirked and took his glasses off to clean them with his shirt. “I’m not sure I’d like to share that part of my life with you all. For your own sakes.”

                “Okay that’s fair, let’s talk about something else now,” Sunny said, not wanting to hear something embarrassing about her brother.

                “Yes, let’s,” said Klaus, clearing his throat. “Now that we’ve secured the Chivas, what’s next?”

                “We’ll there’s still the matter of Carol,” said Quigley. “She still is in possession of the ribbon, Regina’s pearls, and the gum. Not to mention her own magical item, the coin bra.”

                “Also, we should find out if that book that my professor mentioned is still in the catacombs,” said Klaus.

                “We’ll split up,” said Quigley. “Violet, Klaus, Sunny, you guys will go back home and find the book. We’ll take care of Carol.”

                “Sounds good,” said Violet. “I shudder at the thought of seeing Carol again.”


	18. Chapter 18

Violet was in her workshop. It was a week since that party. A few days ago, Klaus came home from school with the book from the catacombs. The book was now sitting in Violet’s workshop, being studied intently. No one had dared open the book yet in order to avoid any magical girl transformations.

                In the meantime, Violet was trying to invent a sort of magical item herself. Across the room, Sunny’s voice crackled through the speaker of the radio as she shared her recipe for her sweet potato pie on the food network station. Klaus was presumably at the movie theater with Basil, which meant that Violet had the house to herself. She was using the time to work on her invention, but she was becoming more and more frustrated with her project the more she worked on it. She just couldn’t figure out how an object could have magical qualities. Surely there had to be some kind of scientific reason for the transformations. She spent another hour there, trying different chemical combinations, but to no avail.

                She became so frustrated that she stood up with a huff and tossed her screwdriver onto the bench. Violet pulled the handkerchief from her neck and wiped her face. The invention sat there as if it were mocking her. The device was a handheld scepter made from parts of a toaster, ten wristwatches, a hairbrush, and two tampons swollen with pure lemon juice. Maybe it needed more tampons, but Violet didn’t want to run out because her period was about to start. What did it need…….

                Whatever her invention needed would have to wait because Violet’s train of thought was interrupted by the doorbell. She took a breath to shout at one of her siblings to answer it, but then she remembered they were both out. Her eyes rolled involuntarily and she trudged to the door, not wanting whoever it was to wait. But when Violet opened the door, it turned out there was no one on the porch. The only thing there was a box. The UPS truck was just rounding the corner down the street. Violet took the box with her to the kitchen. The label said that the package was for “Violet & Sunny Baudelaire”. Violet decided to wait for her sister to come home before she opened it. With a glance at the microwave above the stove, Violet realized that sunny would be home any minute.

                Sure enough, Sunny walked through the front door right then.

                “I’m in the kitchen!” Violet called to her. Sunny came into the kitchen and shrugged off her backpack, her eyes falling onto the box.

                “What’s that?” Sunny asked. “Are those the books Klaus ordered?”

                “No, it’s for you and I,” said Violet. She grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the tape. Sunny pulled the packing paper out. Laying within the box were two very familiar items, along with a letter addressed to V. and S.

                “My gum!” Sunny gasped.

                “The ribbon!” Violet exclaimed. Both girls grabbed their magical items in surprise. Violet then remembered the letter and she dropped her ribbon to open it. She read it out loud.

                _Dear V. and S.,_

_Please take great care with the contents of this box, although I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this. It took a great deal of effort to defeat Carol, but I did it. We now have Carol’s coin bra in our Magical Vault. We also heard news of K. and B. finding the magical tome in the catacombs. If it hasn’t chosen anyone, you are welcome to put it in our vault._

_One last thing I must inform you of: there is rumor of another magical item on your side of the city, but we’re not sure if it belongs to anyone. We have a tentative lead on a woman named Miranda Claire. It would be worthwhile to investigate her, but not to accuse her of any treachery just yet._

_Good luck Baudelaires._

_Yours,_

_B._

                Later that night, over dinner, Klaus read the letter. He didn’t even get to the end of the letter before he set it down with a loud groan.

                “Miranda Claire…” Klaus said with an exasperated sigh.

                “Do you know her?” Sunny asked.

                “Do you guys remember when I was on that mission in the city and I spent six months there disguised as Lisa Brown?” Klaus asked.

                “Yes, I remember you frequently complaining about wearing contact lenses every day instead of your glasses,” Violet said, snickering at the memory. She wondered where this was going.

                “While I was in the city on that mission, I was living with Miranda Claire in her apartment. We were dating during those six months,” Klaus said. “She didn’t know anything about my mission or my secret identity. She really thought she was dating Lisa. At first I felt bad about lying to her for so long, but then I began suspecting her of plotting something behind my back. I never found out what it was because I had to break up with her and leave the city when the mission went sour. It’s possible that she has a magical item, but I don’t know if she would use it for treachery.”

                “Well, that’s why we need to investigate,” Violet said. “Maybe you should give Miranda a visit and catch up over coffee or something.”

                “I suppose,” Klaus set his fork down and thought about it. “I guess I wouldn’t mind being Lisa again. She was very fashionable after all.”

                Klaus ate those words around noon the next day. He was blinking furiously in the passenger seat of the cab which was parked outside Miranda’s apartment building. He was looking in the mirror trying to fix the contacts in his eyes, attempting to catch the tears streaming out with a tissue before they ruined his mascara.

                “Will you be okay?” Basil asked from the driver’s seat. He was wearing sunglasses and a hat that came down to cover his eyebrows.

                “Yeah, these things are just really itchy,” said Klaus. “Like, goddamn, I must be allergic to this contact solution or something because this is ridiculous! Okay, I think its fine now. How I look? Do I look high?”

                Basil laughed and said, “No you’re eyes aren’t red. You look good.” And Basil meant it. Klaus really did look good in his auburn wig, feminine makeup, and a short skirt with heels. He made a _very_ convincing woman.

                “Okay then, I’m off,” Klaus said. “Wish me luck.”

                “Good luck,” Basil said. He leaned over and kissed Klaus, only realizing he’d get lipstick on his lips after the fact. Klaus left the cab and entered the apartment building. As Klaus, or as I’ll be addressing him for this part of the story, Lisa, climbed the stairs to Miranda’s apartment, she practiced her disguised voice and ran her fingers through her hair, making sure it looked spot on. When Lisa arrived at the door of Miranda’s apartment, she knocked. The door opened within seconds and the lovely face of a woman with curly blonde hair peeked out. Her eyes widened and she flung the door open the rest of the way.

                “Lisa?” she practically squealed. “Oh my god, what are you doing here?”

                Miranda hugged Lisa.

                “I was in the area,” Lisa said. “I wanted to see how you were doing. Thought maybe we could catch up over coffee.”

                “Yeah, I’d love that,” said Miranda. “Here, come in. I’ll have to get my purse and stuff.”

                Lisa followed Miranda inside. Lisa looked around. The apartment looked a lot different than it used to.

                “Wow, this place looks great!” Lisa commented. “When did you do all this?”

                “When I got my master’s degree, I figured it was time for a change in here,” Miranda said. “I needed some kind of change before I went into grad school.”

                “It looks amazing,” said Lisa. Miranda led the way back out and they began descending the stairs.

                “Thanks,” said Miranda. The two women walked down the street to a coffee shop that they frequented back when they lived together. They took a seat by the window while they waited for their coffees to be made.

                “So, how have you been?” Lisa asked.

                “I’ve been great!” said Miranda. “School is going well and actually…I’m seeing someone right now. And it’s kind of serious.”

                “Really?”

                “Yeah. Her name is Ani,” said Miranda. “We’ve only been together for a year and a half but I think she might be…”

                “The one?” Lisa finished.

                “Yeah,” Miranda said with a giggle.

                “That’s awesome! I’m so happy for you,” Lisa said, feeling giddy for her friend.

                “What about you? How have you been,” Miranda asked. A waitress came by and set their two mugs down. Both women thanked her.

                “I’ve been well,” said Lisa. She quickly made the decision to not lie all that much. After all, they went to different schools and they lived nowhere near each other. Miranda doesn’t know anything about Klaus. She wouldn’t make any connections. “I’m really close to getting my bachelor’s degree and I just started dating this guy from one of my classes. He really sweet.”

                “That’s great!” Miranda said. “Look at us, being successful and shit.”

                Lisa laughed, and then blinked furiously for a few moments as the contacts started itching again.

                “So, I have a question for you,” said Miranda, getting serious all of a sudden. “What can you tell me about the organization you work for Lisa, or should I say Klaus?”

                Lisa’s stomach dropped and her heart stopped right in her chest.

                “What? Who’s Klaus?” Klaus made a feeble attempt at preserving his identity.

                “Oh come on, I’m not stupid,” said Miranda. Though her words were biting, she didn’t seem all that mad. “You might make a convincing woman, but when you date someone for six months, there are just some things you can’t hide.”

                Klaus could feel his face heating up.

                “Once I found out you weren’t who you said you were, I started doing some research,” Miranda explained. “There’s not a lot of information about you out there, but I found enough. What’s the organization you work for?”

                “I don’t work for them, I volunteer,” Klaus said in his normal voice. “And I can’t tell you anything more. It’s a secret organization for a reason. While we were dating, I was on an investigative mission in which I had to disguise myself as Lisa Brown who lived in the city. Dating you had nothing to do with my disguise or the mission. I genuinely just liked you, but I couldn’t risk revealing my identity to anyone.”

                “Okay, and so why are you here again? Talking to me? Am I being investigated now?” Miranda asked.

                “Yes, actually,” said Klaus. “I can explain to you why I’m here, although I’m sure you won’t believe me.”

                “Try me,” Miranda said, smiling and crossing her arms.

                “I’m here because I’m part of a less secret sub-organization that collects magical items that are not in use or are being used by people with nefarious intentions,” Klaus explained. “We got a lead that there might be a magical item around here and you were the only clue. I figured that it would be easier to investigate you by using someone you know; Lisa Brown.”

                “Well, you still look great as Lisa,” Miranda said. “Though perhaps a bit more masculine.”

                “Well, as you said, there are just some things you can’t hide,” Klaus chuckled. “Actually, can we please go back to your place? I gotta get these contacts out. And maybe get out of this wig and makeup.”

                “No we can’t go back, my house is bugged,” Miranda said. “But you can take out your contacts here if you want. I noticed they were bothering you. You must be allergic to your solution or something.”

                Klaus pulled his contact case and his glasses out of his purse and began taking the contacts out as Miranda continued.

                “The lead that you got was right,” Miranda said. “I am a magical girl. Or rather, I _was_ a magical girl. My magical hand mirror was stolen from me last week.”

                “By who?” Klaus asked, now comfortably wearing his glasses.

                “I’m not sure, but a friend of mine is helping me get it back,” Miranda said. “Her name is Rachel Herbert and she works at the Target down the road. You can ask her about it. She told me not to get involved.”

                “That doesn’t make any sense,” said Klaus. Miranda shrugged. They both leaned back in their chairs and stared at their drinks. Eventually, the conversation shifted to lighter topics about their lives as they finished their coffees.

                “Well, I should go. I’ll stop at the Target and see if I can find Rachel,” said Klaus. “It was great catching up with you.”

                “It was good seeing you too,” said Miranda. “We should keep in touch. Maybe we can go on a double date some time.”

                The two of them exchanged numbers and then Klaus left. Outside, he hailed a cab and one immediately pulled up. Klaus hopped into the passenger seat and looked over at the driver. It was Basil.

                “How’d it go?” Basil asked.

                “It went well,” Klaus said. “She discovered my secret identity, but it wasn’t too bad. She wasn’t as mad as I thought she’d be. She told me that she’s a magical girl but her item was stolen. She has a friend who’s trying to get the item back for her but her friend told her to stay uninvolved. That didn’t make any sense to me, since the item in Miranda’s, shouldn’t she have some involvement in getting it back?”

                “Do we know where this friend is?” Basil asked.

                “Only that she works at Target,” Klaus said.

                “That Target?” Basil asked, pointing out the window at the Target they were passing.

                “Yes! That’s it. Pull in,” Klaus said. Basil pulled into the Target parking lot and they both got out and began walking to the automatic doors. “How do I look? Do I still look okay?”

                “Yeah, you look great,” said Basil, finding it amusing that Klaus cared so much about his appearance as Lisa.

                The inside of Target was hopping. The lines at the registers were long and the aisles were filled with carts and kids and soccer moms on their phones looking at the deals on Cartwheel.

                “We might as well buy something,” said Basil. “So we’re not suspicious at the registers.”

                “Yeah. I have some groceries I need to get anyway,” said Klaus. The two of them went to the grocery section and shopped around for a bit. When it came time to check out, Basil pretended to look at the products on all of the registers, looking for a cashier with a nametag reading “Rachel”. Back in line, Klaus saw Basil give the signal at register ten. Klaus swung his cart full of groceries around and navigated through the lines to get to register ten.

                “Hi, how are you guys?” the cashier asked them as they began unloading their groceries on the belt. Sure enough, her nametag said “Rachel”.

                “We’re great,” said Basil.

                “Do either of you have a Target Red card? Save five percent today on your-“ Rachel was cut off by Klaus.

                “Say, Rachel, you wouldn’t happen to be Rachel Herbert, would you?” Klaus asked, not bothering with his disguised voice or formalities at all.

                “Yes, that would be me,” said Rachel, looking at them, clearly trying to figure out if she knew them from somewhere.

                “We’ve never met but a friend of mine told me to find you,” Klaus said.

                “Oh, I didn’t realize this was a sad occasion,” Rachel said, accidentally ringing up the broccoli twice and having to void one.

                “The world is quiet here,” Basil said.

                “Miranda doesn’t know about my Very Fierce Dedication to volunteer work,” said Rachel.

                “We know,” said Klaus. “That’s not why we’re here though. We’re looking for Miranda’s magical item, which was stolen by someone.”

                “Shh! Don’t say too much,” Rachel said, switching to a whisper as she began ringing up all the random shit Klaus picked out to stall for time. “There are spies everywhere. Yes, her item was stolen, but the people who stole it are much too powerful for any of us to defeat. They have a huge collection of magical items. I got Miranda’s mirror back just today, but I almost died in the process. You guys need to get away. What you’re getting yourselves involved in is much too perilous.”

                “Who is it? Who’s running the organization that’s stealing magical items?” Klaus asked, also in a whisper.

                “His name is-“

                Just then, the power went out throughout the entire building. Quite the commotion started up as people began to panic and children screamed, as what happens every time the power goes out somewhere. A loud _BOOM_ shook the building, making people scream once more.

                “You guys need to leave,” Rachel said in a panicked voice, leaning over the counter to talk to Klaus and Basil. “That’s them. They’re here. You need to run!”

                “Basil,” Klaus turned to his boyfriend. “Get out of here. I’ll stay and find out who these people are.”

                “What? Are you kidding me?” Basil looked as if he’d been slapped. “I’m not leaving you. We’re either running or we’re both staying. There’s no way I’m going to leave you.”

                Klaus looked at Basil for a moment before closing the space between them with a kiss.

                “I love you,” Klaus said.

                “I love you too,” said Basil. Another loud sound rang out throughout the store. This time it sounded metal being torn. People screamed once more and the employees began trying to get the guests to evacuate the building as organized as possible. All of a sudden, through the chaos of the panicked customers, came the sound of music. Not just any music, the sound of a sick guitar solo. Then the drums came in, rad as hell.

                “ _Love is like a bomb baby come on get it on, livin’ like a lover with a radar phone. Lookin’ like a tramp, like a video vamp, demolition woman can I be your man? ……_ _Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light Television lover, baby, go all night Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet Little miss ah innocent sugar me, yeah!”_

                Klaus’ heart pounded in his chest as he whipped his head around to face the source of the music. This couldn’t be….

                _“Hey! C'mon, take a bottle, shake it up Break the bubble, break it up! Pour some sugar on me Ooh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me C'mon, fatten me up Pour your sugar on me Oh, I can't get enough……_

_I'm hot, sticky sweet From my head to my feet, yeah.”_

A bomb guitar solo filled the air and lasers started flying, lighting up the store like a rave. The customers who were still in the store stopped panicking to see what was going on. Klaus felt the panic rise in him. He twirled back to face his boyfriend who just looked confused. Rachel was tearing her Target nametag off and pulling armor from under her register and putting it on with shaking hands.

                “Basil, run, you have to run,” Klaus said, feeling his voice shake with panic.

                “I said I’m not leaving you,” Basil said.

                _“Listen! red light, yellow light, green-a-light go! Crazy little woman in a one man show Mirror queen, mannequin, rhythm of love Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up You gotta squeeze a little, squeeze a little Tease a little more Easy operator come a knockin' on my door Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah Give a little more!_

_Take a bottle, shake it up Break the bubble, break it up Pour some sugar on me Ooh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me C'mon fatten me up Pour your sugar on me Oh, I can't get enough I'm hot, sticky sweet From my head to my feet yeah…”_

A man clad in a glittering wizard robe patterned with silver stars lowered from the ceiling playing the sick guitar solo. He wore on his head a matching pointy wizard hat and thigh high shiny leather boots with heels. His black hair flowed from under his hat. Klaus would recognize that hair anywhere. He’d also recognize that guitar anywhere.

                From the end of his guitar, a laser shot into the crowd of customers, killing one of them and making the rest of them fall into chaos once more. Klaus watched in shock as Rachel pulled Miranda’s magical mirror out of her back pocket and used it to transform real fast. Rachel’s red shirt and khakis were replaced with a gold, shimmering magical girl outfit, complete with gold ribbons and metal flowers. She unsheathed a huge sword and flew at the floating wizard with a mighty roar. Her sword clashed with his guitar letting lose a bright light. When the light faded, Klaus saw the two parrying back and forth in an intense battle. But then the wizard played a sick riff. The end of his guitar started lighting up with a bright light. Then he aimed it at Rachel and fired. Rachel’s transformation dissolved as she fell to the ground. She landed at Klaus’ feet, unconscious. She held the gold mirror in her hands.  

                _“You got the peaches, I got the cream Sweet to taste, saccharine 'cause I'm hot, say what, sticky sweet From my head, my head, to my feet…_

_Do you take sugar? One lump or two?!”_

Klaus looked from Rachel up to the wizard, who was still flying around shooting people. He needed to make a decision. Fast.

                “ _Take a bottle, shake it up Break the bubble, break it up!”_

Thinking quickly, Klaus grabbed the mirror from Rachel’s hands and willed himself to transform. He felt a warm glow within himself that spread out into a golden rose made of light. The pedals of the metallic golden rose enclosed around Klaus. Then they opened with a burst of golden glitter. When the light faded, Klaus stood in the center of the opened rose. His auburn wig had become real, and much longer, and completely golden. His feminine makeup became all gold and he found that he was wearing the same outfit that Rachel was just wearing.

                “Klaus! That mirror just chose you!” Basil shouted. “That transformation was a choosing!”

                “What?” Klaus looked at Basil in confusion. Before he could think about it anymore, the Wizard shot a laser at Klaus. Faster than lightening, Klaus whipped around to face the Wizard and crossed his arms in from of his face. The laser hit the gold gauntlets on his arms and bounced off. A look of shock crossed the Wizard’s face. But then his face contorted into anger. He played another sick guitar riff, shooting lasers at Klaus as the two of them dodged and flew around the Target. Klaus flew between two shelves filled with bath towels and rugs. He could hear the Wizard behind him revving up a powerful attack. Klaus knew that his gauntlets wouldn’t protect him this time. Just as the Wizard fired his attack from the end of his guitar, Klaus held his hands out in front of him, palm facing the Wizard, and willed some kind of shield to appear. Golden rose vines twisted up his arms and in the palm of his hands, a magnificent rose shield blossomed right in time. The powerful laser that the Wizard had shot hit the shield and shattered into an explosion of light. Klaus planted his feet on the tile floor but the explosion still made his feet slide back. Without wasting any time, the Wizard shot another laser at Klaus’ feet, but he pushed off of the ground, doing a backflip and dodging the laser. _There must be some kind of cannon or weapon or something,_ Klaus thought. Just as he thought this, he was able to summon a rose cannon. It bloomed from his hands like a rose, the thorny vines twisting around his arms again. The Cannon bloomed to form a kind of metal barrel made of rose pedals. Klaus planted his feet once more and began revving up for an ultimate attack. The Wizard was doing the same thing. An enormous amount of golden light was coming from the end of the rose cannon and Klaus could feel it was time. But he was too late. Just as he let his attack loose, the Wizard dodged and set off his own attack. Klaus couldn’t dodge. He saw the ball of light coming at him too fast for him to do anything at all. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was, “ _Pour some sugar on me Ooh, in the name of love Pour some sugar on me C'mon fatten me up, Pour your sugar on me Oh, I can't get enough Pour some sugar on me Oh, in the name of love. Pour some sugar on me. Get it, come get it Pour your sugar on me, Ooh Pour some sugar on me Yeah! Sugar me!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has officially flown off the handle. More to come.


	19. Chapter 19

****

Klaus never came home from his mission in the city, but Sunny was only slightly worried about him. Sometimes he stayed out longer than expected, and he also had Basil there as backup, so it was probably fine.

                Mondays were always Sunny’s favorite day because it meant the start of the school week. Sunny wasn’t usually able to see her friends outside of school that often because of all the volunteer work she was involved in.

                Sunny was in the split class, with the advanced fourth and fifth graders, which meant that the class has had the same teacher for those few years. Their teacher was Miss Vanderbeek, one of the kindest, sweetest, gentlest people Sunny had ever met. Right now, Miss Vanderbeek was teaching earth science, showing the class diagrams about plate tectonics. A note fluttered onto Sunny’s work packet. It was from her friend, Gabi, who was sitting next to her. Gabi was Sunny’s first friend at school and Sunny could still remember the day that Gabi became the most popular girl in the class: the day she started wearing a hijab. Everyone wanted to ask her about it and she was happy to talk about it. Gabi was pretending to not know anything about the note she had just passed. Sunny opened it and read it.

                “ _Kevin is staring again,”_ was all that it said. Sunny looked to the person sitting on her other side. Kevin was Sunny’s second friend at this school. He had blonde hair and light blue eyes and he had a massive crush on the girl he was staring at across the room. The girl he was staring at was Sunny’s third friend at the school. Gabi and Sunny had befriended her as soon as they found out that their friend Kevin liked her. Her name was Tiara and she was the only black girl in the class, something she frequently made jokes about.

                Sunny looked between Kevin’s dreamy stare to Tiara’s oblivious one. Sunny looked at Gabi and smiled.

                After they learned about plate tectonics, it was lunch time. Lunch passed uneventfully, except for Kevin making a disgusting mix of ketchup, orange juice, chocolate milk, and salt, and Tiara daring him to drink it. Of course, he did. After lunch was recess, obviously everyone’s favorite time of day. There was a game of kickball going on that the four friends played for a while until Sunny noticed something. There was a kid crouching over by the fence across the playground. She couldn’t tell what he was doing, until he crawled through a hole in the fence and disappeared in the bushes behind it.

                “Hey guys, some kid just crawled through the fence into the forest over there,” Sunny said, pointing. Her friends looked.

                “Who was it?” asked Tiara.

                “I don’t know, I couldn’t tell,” said Sunny.

                “Let’s go check it out,” Gabi said, already leaving the kickball game and jogging across the playground. Sunny, Kevin and Tiara followed. They came to the hole in the fence and they all crouched down to examine it.

                “I don’t remember this being here,” said Gabi.

                “Me neither,” Sunny said. Without any further speculation, Kevin ducked down and crawled through the hole. The girls all looked at each other before following. The forest on the other side of the fence was unfamiliar to all of them since they weren’t allowed back there, but they could faintly hear the sound of footsteps in the leaves and branches that blanketed the ground. Sunny took the lead from there and followed the sound. The footsteps then stopped, as did the four friends when the source of the sound came into view. The boy that they were following was crouching down beside a stream, picking pebbles out of the water.

                “Is that Bobby?” Tiara whispered. Gabi nodded. The group stayed quiet once they heard another set of footsteps, this time coming from the other side of the stream. A young girl that none of them recognized stepped up to the stream and knelt down.

                “Did they get him?” Bobby asked.

                “Yes. Did you find out where the sister is?” asked the girl.

                “Yes. She’s here,” said Bobby.

                “At this school?” asked the girl.

                “Right behind me,” said Bobby.

                Sunny’s heart skipped a beat and her stomach dropped as the girl across the stream looked right at her. Sunny realized that they must’ve been talking about Klaus, which meant he must be captured. The girl across the stream pulled a small scepter out of her pocket and held it up in the air. Sparkles fell from her scepter and she transformed into a similar style dress as Sunny’s magical girl outfit.

                Sunny didn’t hesitate. She told her friends to stay back as she tossed a stick of gum in her mouth. Her transformation was the same is it always was, but she was unable to do much of anything once it was over, because during her transformation, the other magical girl had been preparing for a powerful attack. She waved her scepter in the air and a bright light blinded everyone in the area. Sunny’s ears were ringing and the last thing she heard was the scared voices of her friends.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to be clear, the kid by the stream is not the same Bobby as the one from the restaurant. This Bobby is a kid in Sunny's class. The reuse of that name was unintentional.


	20. Chapter 20

When Sunny opened her eyes, she panicked for a moment as stars danced in front of her vision, making her blind. She blinked hard a few times, her vision slowly coming back. Wherever Sunny was, it was warm and the carpet beneath her was soft. The sound of a crackling fire was soothing to Sunny’s frantic mind. Once her vision finally cleared up, Sunny looked around the room she was in. I looked like a small cozy sitting room. It was very well decorated and there was a fireplace beside the plush rug Sunny was on, crackling peacefully. A soft groan from behind her made Sunny realize she was not alone. She turned around and saw Klaus slowly waking up from the couch. It took Sunny a moment to recognize her brother because he was dressed in an all gold, rose themed outfit and his hair was long and also gold. Sunny got up and rushed to her brother, immediately attempting to shake him awake. As soon as Klaus opened his eyes, the golden outfit, hair, and makeup dissolved, revealing his Lisa outfit.

                “Sunny?” Klaus rasped.

                “Are you okay?” Sunny asked.

                Before either sibling could say much more, the door across the room opened and in walked a well-dressed man.

                “Ah, you’re both awake. Can we get you anything before the meeting?” the man asked. “Water? Coffee? Tea?”

                Klaus and Sunny looked at each other and Sunny said, “We’ll both have tea please, if you don’t mind.”

                “And I would very much like to change out of these clothes,” Klaus said, pulling his auburn wig off.

                “Yes, of course,” the man said politely. “I will return shortly with your tea and a change of clothes for both of you. In the meantime, there is a bowl of candies on the tea table right there, which you are welcome to help yourselves to. My name is Kevin if you need anything else.”

                “Thank you Kevin,” Sunny said, remembering her manners. And with that, Kevin left the room.

                “What the hell?” Klaus mumbled.

                “Whoever captured us treats their prisoners with great hospitality,” Sunny said, walking over to the bowl of candy which Kevin mentioned. She poked around for a bit before realizing it was all butterscotch candies in there. Sunny made a face but she tossed one to her brother, whom she knew loved butterscotch. Then she sat down next to Klaus and felt her pockets for her gum and phone. Both were gone. Klaus pulled a small gold hand mirror out of his pocket, but quickly realized that his phone was also gone.

                “Okay, so we don’t know who our captor is,” said Klaus. “But we do know that they don’t want to hurt us, at least not yet.”

                “And they took our phones,” said Sunny. “So they definitely don’t want us contacting any help.”

                “They want us to get comfortable here,” said Klaus. “But we need to keep our guards up.”

                Just then, the door opened again and in walked Kevin, holding two teacups, followed by a well-dressed woman who was holding two sets of crisp pajamas folded neatly in her arms.

                “This is Gina,” Kevin said as he set the teas down on the tea table. Gina set the clothes down on the table beside the tea. “We will be right outside the door if you need anything. Please take your time changing and enjoying your tea. The meeting will take place at four o’clock sharp.”

                “Kevin?” Sunny stopped the two well-dressed people on their way out. “Can I ask where we are?”

                “And what is this meeting?” asked Klaus. “Who are we meeting?”

                “Yes, you both probably have a lot of questions, but they will all be answered at the meeting,” Kevin said. “I was instructed not to say anything more. Just know that you needn’t worry about your safety while you are here. We have no intentions of hurting you.”

                Kevin and Gina left, leaving Klaus and Sunny to ponder their situation. Sunny glanced at the grandfather clock standing beside the fireplace. It was three thirty. The two siblings changed into their comfortable new pajamas and sipped their tea while they discussed their predicament. It was four fifty-seven when Kevin came back in and told them to follow him. They followed him out of the room and into the hall, which was just was pleasantly decorated as the sitting room. Then Kevin opened the door of an office and led Klaus and Sunny inside.

                “Please have a seat, Jasmine will be with you shortly,” he said, gesturing to the two plush chairs across from the mahogany desk. Then he left them alone again. Sitting on the corner of the desk was a bowl of butterscotch candies. Sunny watched the clock on the wall, and when it struck four o’clock exactly, the door opened and in walked a woman wearing a very fashionable suit. She took a seat behind the desk and smiled at the siblings. The first thing she did was offer candy from the bowl. Sunny refused but her brother took one.

                “My name is Jasmine,” she said, setting the bowl back down. “It’s very nice to meet you Klaus and Sunny. We’ve heard a lot about you here.”

                “It’s very nice to meet you too, Jasmine,” said Sunny. “But I have a question. Where are we?”

                “Ah, yes, you must be very concerned with your situation right now,” Jasmine said. “First of all, I would like to apologize for the manner in which you were brought here. The two agents we sent out to get you are new to our organization and they don’t yet understand our policies. They have been spoken to since then about their behavior. We never intended to hurt you, in fact, we want you to know that we will do everything we can to keep you and your friends safe. We want to protect you from all the villainous magical item collectors that may try to challenge you.”

                “You still haven’t answered her question,” said Klaus.   

                “Right, I’m sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself here,” Jasmine said. “You are in the home of our boss, Lincoln. He wants it to be clear that we have no intention of harming you.”

                Sunny looked at her brother and knew that the same thing was going through his head: _something is extremely fishy here._

                “Our condition is that you and your magical girl organization stay out of our business,” Jasmine said. “We are connoisseurs of magical items here. Lincoln wants to use these items for something big later in the future. We want you to stay away from us and let us go about our business in peace. In return, we will stay out of yours, and even protect you against rogue magic item users, like Carol and Mack, who may want to harm you for your own magical items.”

                “What happens if we don’t stay out of your business?” Klaus asked. “Just out of curiosity.”

                “We’ll kill you. Everyone in your magical girl organization is on our list. It would be very easy for us to take you out,” said Jasmine. There it was. The other shoe Sunny and Klaus were so anxiously waiting to drop.

                “So what exactly does your organization do? How will we know to stay out of your way?” Sunny asked, deciding quickly to play along.

                “Wonderful question Sunny,” Jasmine smiled. “We collect magical items from all over the place. If you decide to agree to our terms, we won’t bother your organization or the magical items you already have. In order to keep clear of us, we request that you no longer go hunting for magical items. We’re hoping that this goes smoothly, because keeping the peace is the most important thing to us here.”

                “We don’t have a choice in the matter, do we?” Klaus asked.

                “Of course you do, but the other option would not be favorable to you,” said Jasmine. “You can trust us that we’ll hold our end of the bargain, as long as you hold yours.”

                “And what is Lincoln planning to do with all these magical items?” Sunny asked.

                “That’s something we’re not allowed to discuss,” Jasmine said. “Are there any more questions?”

                Klaus and Sunny did have more questions, quite a few in fact, but they knew that they would only get more vague answers like the last one. Sunny figured that now would be a good time to ask to leave and discuss this with the group.

                “Are we free to leave?” Sunny asked.

                “Oh! Of course! Thank you so much for meeting with me,” Jasmine said. “You kids are so well mannered, your parents must be very proud.”

                Sunny and Klaus glanced at each other.

                “Now, before you leave, I would just like both of your signatures here so that Lincoln will know you took our deal,” Jasmine said, pulling out a sheet of paper from a drawer.

                “Sunny’s not eighteen, she can’t sign documents,” Klaus said.

                “Don’t think of this as a document,” said Jasmine. “Just a casual agreement.”

                Sunny thought about all of their options. If they didn’t do what Jasmine said, there was the thinly veiled threat of death following close behind. So Sunny took the paper from Jasmine’s hands and sighed, then passed it to Klaus. Klaus seemed hesitant, but regretfully signed the paper.

                “Wonderful, thank you both so much for your time,” said Jasmine. “Kevin will lead you outside where there is a ride waiting for you. They’ll take you home.”

                Then Jasmine reached into another drawer and pulled out their phones and Sunny’s gum, returning the items to their rightful owners.


	21. Chapter 21

“That wasn’t even a thinly veiled death threat,” said Violet. “That was an outright explicit death threat. Where is their tact?”

                The Baudelaires, the Quagmires, the Brochetveileskas, and Regina Remora were together in a meeting room within the VFD headquarters in the city. Beatrice sat at the head of the table, her hands linked on the tabletop and her brow furrowed.   

                “Yeah, she was very blunt with us,” said Klaus. “Which, I suppose I appreciate, but at the same time, it _was_ a death threat.”

                “We can do more research on this Lincoln fellow,” said Duncan. “I’ve never heard of him, but if he’s collecting magical girl magical items for something big, it can’t be good. He’s definitely up to something sinister.”

                “Obviously he’s up to something sinister,” said Isadora. “Only sinister people make death threats.”

                “True,” said Duncan.

                “We need to reach out to all of our contacts,” said Beatrice. “We have to tell them to beware of these people, and to keep an eye out for any information on them at all. I know you have all met Bobby, the guy who gave you the manual. Do any of you know a man by the name of Arjun Chandan Vishnibhanupudi?”

                Klaus and Basil looked at each other.

                “Is he a professor at Cholmondeley University?” asked Klaus.

                “Yes, he is,” said Beatrice. “He is a world renowned entomologist.”

                “He’s our entomology professor,” said Basil.

                “Good,” said Beatrice. “Then you should be expecting a secret message from him very soon. I just received a message from him yesterday. He said that he has information about Lincoln, but he’s being closely watched. Keep a lookout boys.”

                “In the meantime, should we stop looking for magical girl magical items?” asked Sunny.

                “Yes, to be safe,” said Beatrice. “At least until we have more information. Until we find out more about Lincoln and his organization, we’ll all go about our business and stay wary. Report back to the group as soon as anyone finds anything interesting.”

                Everyone at the table nodded and then they left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                “Who was that rock and roll wizard?” asked Basil. He and Klaus were walking to their entomology class together. “It seemed as though you recognized him.”

                “I did,” said Klaus. “My sisters and I attended a local concert a few years ago and he was the lead singer. He tried to hypnotize the audience and command them as his army. My sisters and I know an inordinate amount about hypnosis, so we were able to stop him. It seems he got an upgrade since then.”

                “Perhaps this Lincoln fellow is collecting villains to use in an evil magical girl army,” said Basil, taking his seat next to Klaus in their classroom.

                “Perhaps…” said Klaus. “Let’s hope not though.”

                Professor Vishnibhanupudi walked in and began the lecture. As Professor Vishnibhanupudi wrote on the chalkboard, Klaus took note of certain letters underlined. Throughout the entire lecture, every time Professor Vishnibhanupudi underlined a certain letter on the board, Klaus wrote it down in his notebook. By the end of the class, Klaus had a full message in his notebook. It said, “Find Robin at the wax factory.”

                Klaus closed his notebook before anyone could see it. On their way out of the classroom, Klaus whispered to Basil, “We’re going to the wax factory.”

                After their classes were over, Klaus and Basil met each other at the wax factory. The factory was old and mysterious and looked abandoned. But there were cars parked out front and smoke coming from the smoke stacks, telling the volunteers that it was not in fact abandoned. Which meant that they needed to proceed with caution.

                The two of them snuck around to the back of the building and snuck in through a window. Once they were inside, Klaus looked around for any sign of movement. They were in a small, dark office, with an old cluttered desk at the center, but there was no one in sight. In the corner was a file cabinet, which Klaus went to right away.

                “We’re looking for someone named Robin,” said Klaus. “Maybe we can find a record of them in here.”

                “I’ll keep a lookout,” said Basil. Klaus rifled through the paperwork in the cabinet until he finally found a manila folder labeled “Robin Merriweather”. Klaus opened the folder and began skimming the file. It was mostly paperwork from when Robin was hired, his W2’s, resume, and applications. There was a little picture of Robin on his resume. He had brown hair and bright green eyes, freckles covering his nose and cheeks. Before Klaus and Basil could do any more investigation, all the lights went out in the building and a loud alarm began going off, accompanied by flashing red lights.

                “What’s happening?” Klaus asked.

                “I don’t know,” said Basil. He left the desk and went to the door, looking out the little window. “There’s no one out there.”

                Just as he said that, the couple heard distant shouting. A minute later, they heard tires squealing, and with a quick peek out the window, they saw the cars that were parked out front peeling out of the driveway. The alarm was still going off, their faces getting illuminated by the red light every time the alarm sounded. Klaus went to the door and slowly opened it. The hallway it opened up to was dark and empty, the red flashing light giving it a very ominous vibe. Klaus led the way out of the office and began making their way down the hall. There was no longer any sign of other people in this building. No more voices or shouting. Everything was silent except for the alarm.

                At the end of the hallway, there was a set of double doors, which Klaus pushed open, revealing the factory. The factory was in a huge warehouse. There were chains hanging from the ceiling, huge machinery, and giant vats filled with bubbling wax. One of the chains seemed to be caught in the machinery and it was making of the huge vats shake. There was no one in the factory.

                Klaus and Basil ran to the catwalk above the vat and looked into it. It looked like something was floating in the liquid wax, but they couldn’t tell what it was. Suddenly, the chain snapped and it whipped over their heads, making them duck just in time. The vat groaned and then slowly tipped. Within seconds, it was fully tipped on its side and pink wax was pouring out if it, spilling across the factory floor. Once the vat emptied out, Klaus and Basil saw what was floating the in the wax. Lying face down in a pink puddle on the ground was a body. The pair ran down the metal stairs and approached the body. Klaus rolled him over and they both gasped.

                “It’s Robin,” said Basil, covering his mouth and turning away. Sure enough, it was Robin, although he was coated in a layer of pink wax and his skin was covering in boils. His green eyes were wide open, but they no longer looked very bright.

                “My god…Who would do this?” Klaus muttered. As he spoke, he noticed something in Robin’s mouth. It was a gold glint.

                “Oh my god, what are you doing?” Basil exclaimed when he saw Klaus stick his fingers into Robin’s mouth.

                “I have a feeling about this. His tooth looks loose,” said Klaus. Sure enough, the gold tooth came right out, and it was hollow. Inside the tooth was a tiny piece of paper, rolled up tight. Klaus unrolled it and looked at it. It said, “Behind the mall, blue Jeep, glovebox.”

                “It’s a clue! I knew it!” said Klaus.

                “That’s the most disgusting clue ever,” said Basil. “What do you think we’ll find in the glovebox?”

                “Who knows?” said Klaus. He shoved the note in his pocket and stood up. “Let’s go find out.”

                An hour later found the boys pulling up behind the mall. There was only one car parked back there, all the way in the back by the forest. It was a blue jeep. Klaus parked their shiny black car next to it and they got out. Basil tried the door to the Jeep.

                “It’s locked.”

                “Look around for a key,” said Klaus. He checked the gas cap first, but there was nothing. Then he checked the ground under the car.

                “Found it,” said Basil. Klaus got up and went to where he was. Basil was looking into the window. Klaus looked and saw the key sitting on the passenger seat.

                “Shit,” Klaus sighed. “I guess we have to break in.”

                “Have you broken into any cars before?” asked Basil.

                “Yeah, a few,” said Klaus. He went back to his car and found the safety hammer with the carbide tip under the back seat. He went back to the Jeep and used the hammer to break the window. From there, he was able to unlock the car and open the door. He opened the glovebox and found a package. The address on the package was blacked out with sharpie. Klaus and Basil looked at each other before Klaus opened the package.

                Inside was a handwritten letter and a vintage decorative lighter disguised as a ceramic fisherman. The lighter was under the fisherman’s hat on his head. Basil took the note and read it aloud.

                “‘Hopefully this package falls into the right hands. This lighter is a highly powerful magical girl magical item. Whatever you do, don’t light it. This magical item belongs to Lincoln. It was stolen from him many years ago, and he will do anything to get his hands back on it. He must not get it back, or else there will be catastrophic consequences. Please keep it safe, or better yet, exorcise it.

                Sincerely,

                A Very Fearful Delegate’”  

                “Exorcise it? What does that mean?” asked Klaus. He looked over the lighter.

                “We’ll figure it out,” said Basil. “In the meantime, let’s just take this to headquarters and keep an eye on it.”


	22. Chapter 22

“Where are you going?”

                Pablo stopped in his tracks and rolled his eyes. Every time he came home from college, he was reminded of how controlling his mother was.

                “I’m going out,” he said, adjusting the messenger bag on his shoulder.

                “Where are you going out to?” his mother asked. “You know I never liked those friends from your journalism club.”

                “I’m not friends with them anymore,” said Pablo. “I’m gonna be late, I gotta go.”

                “Wait, Pablo, you get back here!”

                But Pablo didn’t wait up to hear what his mother had to say. She still treated him like a fifteen year old when he was nineteen.

                As he hurried out the door, he checked his bag to make sure he had his notebook. Its blue cover peeked through some other papers, letting Pablo know that he thankfully wouldn’t have to go back inside to get it.

                The telltale bell of the trolley pulled Pablo out of his thoughts and to the platform, which the trolley was pulling up to. He ran to it and got on. He was on his way to the city, where he was going to get another assignment from the newspaper office. Pablo was their newest journalist and he didn’t want to let Mr. Gregorson down.

                The trolley took him to a stop a block away from the office and Pablo walked the rest of the way. With a quick glance at his watch, he noticed that he was a few minutes late. He began to run. Mr. Gregorson was going to kill him.

                And sure enough, as he burst through the doors and rushed past a few cubicles, he could hear Mr. Gregorson shouting from his office. He peaked his head into the large office in the back of the building and saw his boss, red in the face and standing over his cowering secretary. He snapped his gaze over to Pablo.

                “You’re late,” he growled. Mr. Gregorson was a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair and matching, thick mustache.

                “Sorry, I have the edited article you asked for,” Pablo said, pulling some papers out of his bag. Mr. Gregorson just glared at him. His secretary, Abagail, tried to take this opportunity to sneak out of the office but Mr. Gregorson grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Her red hair fell a bit from its clip.

                “What does it even matter when you can’t even get here on time?” Mr. Gregorson shouted. “Abagail, go make me a copy of his article.” Pablo passed his article to Abigail as she all but ran from the office. He could feel the anxiety clawing its way up his throat. “Look. Pablo, you’re a brilliant writer and I’d hate to see you get let go.”

                Mr. Gregorson sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I have an assignment for you that you can redeem yourself with.”

                “Anything sir. I won’t let you down,” Pablo felt relief wash through him.

                “There’s a library in this city. It’s called the Times Library. Some people think it’s a cover for a secret bank and some people think that bank is also a cover for something. It sounds silly, but it’s worth investigating. It would make a great story if you find anything out about it. You have a week to turn in an article about this. And it better be good, because you are walking on thin ice Mr. Lòpez.”

                “I won’t let you down Mr. Gregorson!” Pablo laughed nervously and left, practically running to his cubicle. As he rounded the corner into his cubicle, he ran into Abigail, who dropped a stack of papers which scattered on the ground.

                “Oh! I’m so sorry!” she sputtered as she dropped down and began gathering the papers. Pablo knelt down to help her.

                “It’s okay! Really, I’m sorry for running into you and making you drop all these,” Pablo trailed off as he noticed Abigail’s shaking hands and the stressed look on her face. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. “Abby…”

                He was the only one allowed to call her that.

                “Abby, are you okay?” he asked. He wanted to touch her shoulder, or her face, or somehow comfort her, but he didn’t know if she would want that. She sighed and let the strands of red hair that had fallen loose from her clip hang in front of her face. “Why do you still work here? Why haven’t you quit?”

                “I’ve always wanted to work in a journalist’s office,” she said quietly. “I can’t let this opportunity get by me.”

                “As a secretary?” Pablo asked, raising an eyebrow. “A secretary for the meanest boss in the world?”

                “No…” she sniffled. Pablo took her hand. “I wanted to be a journalist. Mr. Gregorson keeps telling me I’ll get there someday if I keep doing this.”

                “You know he’s lying right?” said Pablo. “Haven’t you noticed that-“

                “All the journalists here are men?” she said. “Yeah. I’ve noticed. I don’t know why I don’t just quit and go somewhere else.”

                Pablo hated that his boss did that. He was a sexist pig. But Pablo needed the money, so he stayed here for the time being. But just then, an idea came to him and he stood up, offering his hand to Abigail.

                “Abby, I have an idea,” he said, pulling her up and brushing a strand of hair away from her face. “What if you helped me on this assignment? You can co-write it with me. When Mr. Gregorson sees your name on the best article of the year, he’ll have to make you a journalist!”

                “Well, I don’t think he’ll _have to,_ ” she said. But she smiled and looked at him through her hair. “But I would love to help you with this. It sounds like a really interesting case.”


End file.
